{On the outskirts of Oklahoma/ Three days after Stan's murder}

"Bonnie, it's me Gabriel", the young man walked out of his house with a suitcase swung over his shoulder, "I need to call in a favor", he stated.

"A favor? Since when do you call in favors, Mr. Perfect-at-everything-you-do", his good friend remarked and teased on the other line.

With a quick sigh, Gabriel shook his head and hopped into his black Chevrolet, "I'm serious, please, can you help?", he insisted.

Bonnie stayed silent and the tapping of her fingertips could be heard over the phone. "Yeah, why not... But it better not be anything stupid!", she huffed. Gabriel chuckled at her response and nodded to himself as he drove toward Bonnie's office.

"Thanks I appreciate it", Gabriel smiled, "All I need is for you to track down a woman my father most recently investigated... Hopefully my old man remembered to turn in his daily reports..."

With a hearty chuckle, Bonnie immediately rolled back to her computer. "Most recently, huh? Well, according to your father's latests reports, he's been investigating more than one person", she affirmed.

Gabriel knitted his eyebrows as he slowly pulled onto the parking lot. Turning off the engine, he gazed down at the wheel in confusion. "What? A friend/partner of my father said he'd only been investigating a woman", he wondered.

Gabriel let out a heavy sigh and walked out of his car. Still on the phone, he strolled toward the office doors and found the red-haired worker at her computer.

Bonnie smiled when she noticed him enter, "look for yourself, Gabe", she chimed. "There's also initials next to the names, you might know what they mean." With a quick glance at the screen, Gabriel looked over the initials and grinned.

"SNI, dad's code for 'served no importance', most likely his failed attempts...", the sandy, brunette trailed off, "They're not all women, some of them are men too. He must have listed all the suspects he wanted to investigate as his killer...", he muttered to himself as he scanned over all the names from top to bottom.

Bonnie shifted uncomfortably in her seat and gazed into Gabriel's brooding face. She's seen that same expression on her childhood friend when he would stubbornly set his mind on something.

"...Gabe, don't tell me you're planning to finish Stan's investigation and catch the killer?", she asked with fear pooling around in her gut. Gabriel turned to look at her but stared without an answer, another perk of him that Bonnie was all too familiar with.

"That's insane!", Bonnie rose from her seat, "No, it's stupid! Complete idiocy!", she exclaimed.

Gabriel shook his head and sighed at his old friend's remark, "This person killed my father, and now, they're going to condemn for their sins!", Gabriel growled.

Bonnie suddenly flinched at Gabriel's harsh reply. Her shoulders tensed up as she noticed the hellbent expression on her friend's face. Even as terrified as she was by the dangers, she bit her tongue and held quiet, more afraid to hear Gabriel shout again.

"There", Gabriel smirked and pointed at the screen, "the name (Y/N) (L/N), the only one on his list without any initials... that must be the woman his partner mentioned before...It's her!", he laughed triumphantly.

"Pull up all her information. I want everything, her address, zip code, driver's license ID, phone number, EVERYTHING!", Gabriel ordered as Bonnie hurriedly began typing away at her computer.

As Gabriel grinned from ear to ear and excitedly watched as Bonnie pulled up tab after tab of info, the redhead secretly worried about him. On the computer screen, she could make out his reflection and notice the bloodlust circling in his eyes.

"Condemn for their sins, huh? God I hope he won't do anything reckless...", she thought as her gaze lingered on her friend's unsettling grin.

"Got it, I'll send all the files straight to your email account... All that's left is for you to use them", Bonnie whispered woefully.

Gabriel beamed at her quick progress and swiftly grabbed his coat he had earlier taken off. "Where are you going?", Bonnie worried as she watched the brunette stride toward the doors. He looked back at her from over his shoulder and winked, "Wish me luck! I'll see you when I get back, and of course, with a bottle of the finest champagne!", he boasted.

Bonnie knitted her eyebrows and stared off at Gabriel's broad back, "You're leaving?! Already?! But the woman lives out of state—", cut off by the closing doors, Bonnie was left talking alone in the empty office. She let out a frustrated groan and flopped down onto her seat.

Her eyes gazed around her desk and she glimpsed at the portrait of her and Gabriel together.

Bonnie smiled warmly, "Good luck...", she whispered as she pressed the picture frame against her heavy chest.

After abruptly leaving Bonnie alone in her office, Gabriel jogged toward his car and swiftly hopped in.

His hand flew straight toward the seatbelt and buckled up before speeding off the parking lot. He broke the limit and raced toward the nearest airport his GPS could locate under ten minutes, because anything longer than that would have drove Gabriel insane... if he wasn't already.

With a devious smirk he pressed down harder on the gas pedal and gazed toward the road in front of him, all the while wondering what he'd do to the woman once he'd arrest her.

For nights now, he'd wonder aimlessly about that question. For starters, he gained a burning hatred and urge to kill her, to show her the same merciless death she had inflicted on his poor father.

However, he also thought about letting her rot away in prison for the rest of her life... But in reality, that seemed like the least popular option with Gabriel.

As the young, fair-skinned man pulled up in front of the airport, his mind wondered off to the moment where he'd seen the pictures of his father... Pictures of him dead, torn to pieces, like a half-eaten corpse, lying around the sidewalk for no apparent reason.

The images were burned into his retina and were forever a reminder of what Gabriel had to do... Kill his father's murder at ANY cost.

~*~

{Narrator's POV}

The monochrome clown leaned against the back door of (Y/N)'s house and gazed at her figure from behind. She had been gently swinging backwards on the swing of her back porch and fiddled with his toy box.

After Jack had returned them to the human world, after their little 'incident' at his carnival, (Y/N) had begun acting strange. She avoided making eye contact and the only time she actually spoke to him was when they dropped her parents off at the airport. After that, the house had been plagued in silence.

Jack was beginning to feel uneasy with the silence. He felt disgusted by the silence and wanted nothing more than to get rid of it.

He had no idea why though, it could have been because he was a clown and used to eccentric and loud commotions... or, it was because it reminded him too much of the time he spent locked up in his toy box...

For whatever reason it was, Jack strolled up to (Y/N) and sat down next to her on the porch swing.

"You took my killing privileges away and now you don't want to talk to me. What more do you want Gumdrop?", Jack jokingly asked and looked down to meet (Y/N)'s gaze.

She frowned, "I didn't do that! You're the one who suddenly stopped leaving to find another kill!", she contradicted. Jack yawned and leaned back into the comfy seat as he let his long arm rest on her shoulder. "Let's not brood on the details~!", he grinned childishly.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and smiled back, "Very funny clown man", she teased.

The sudden change of mood pleased Jack as he gazed at the young woman's beautiful face. He always felt much better to see her smiling like that. He didn't know why of course, but at least it lifted his mood too, much more than killing had ever done for him.

"Why have you been avoiding me? Are you still scared?", Jack jumped right into his inquiries and shocked (Y/N). She tensed up in her seat and immediately shook her head no.

"Of course not! It's just...", she hesitated as she set the toy box aside. Jack leaned in closer and raised an eyebrow. (Y/N) let out a deep sigh and guiltily gazed at her palms.

"I know.... I know about Isaac."

Her response stunned the monochrome clown. His eyes widened and he gawked at the woman as if she had horns growing out of her head. "Isaac?", Jack asked, incredulous of her finding.

"Yes... When we were at your carnival... I stepped inside this House of Mirrors and walked around the maze... all of a sudden the mirrors began to show me your past like a movie or something...", she said.

Her features faded into a look of pure grief and guilt that Jack instantly felt responsible for her sudden mood change. He let out a sigh and crossed his arms behind his head, staring off into the distance.

"You were bound to find out sooner or later", he mumbled under his breath.

(Y/N) abruptly rose from her seat and gawked at the clown, "How can you be so calm about that! Don't you remember how I pried you for answers... How I brought back those painful memories...! Don't you hate me for it..?!", she shouted, conflicted of the situation.

Jack roughly pulled on her wrist and shoved her into his chest. He let out a tired sigh and wrapped his arms around her, much to her shock.

"I haven't killed you have I?"

(Y/N) froze in Jack's arms and stared at him in disbelief. Her shock soon faded and her lips curved into a smile. She chuckled lightly and Jack tightened his grip on her.

"Very funny", she remarked as she accepted Jack's bluntness and rested her head against his chest. Jack rolled his eyes and brushed his claw through her hair as he thought about how much of an worry wart she was.

Then the two gradually drifted off into a deep sleep afterwards and enjoyed each other's warmth, both of them wishing the moment would never end.