When people think about families, their first thought might be one of those over the top cliché american households where everyone is so perfect and content with their living standards. But in reality, a family is a group of people who care deeply about one another whether they're blood related or not; they would sacrifice their life for one another.

Those happy families on TV shows were sickening with their fake smiles and laughs as the father worked as a business man and the mother was some sort of stay at home caretaker for their young. The same old boring laugh tracks would play in the background whenever they wanted the audience to know when something was supposed to be funny. Just the thought of it was sickening, the reality that Keith face everyday during his job could never be broadcasted onto television because of how real it was. There was no such thing as a happy family, they try to be happy but there's always arguing and sometimes abuse.

As the rain thundered on the roof of his speeding car, Keith kept checking his phone in urgency, waiting for the call from his partner about the witness that had seen the killer leave the property. Lance was driving the car through the streets, the siren blaring making cars move out of their way as if they were Moses parting the red sea. In this reality, getting calls about families meant nothing more than a tragedy to Keith, he wished that sometimes the world could be perfect and that he would never have a call about killings but deep down he understood that such things like world peace and love were impossible as humans. Humans, they're the most intelligent beings on earth and yet the most destructive beings. Religion, sin, hatred, morals; all those caused crime, hate and death and people cry for peace but none of them are willing to actually take actions to create it.

Keith glanced over at Lance as he turned the wheel of the car roughly to take a turn down Coffee Street, they were only about seven blocks from the crime scene and yet Keith could already feel the gloominess of deaths hands hanging over the pair as they got closer to it with each second. Death laughed at Keith as he stood behind him whispering his sweet words of discouragement into his ears, 'there's no way you're going to solve this case before the next family dies, there's no evidence to help you find them.' Keith gripped his phone tightly in his hand as he frowned deeply at the thought. He knew that it was only a thought but it felt so real to him; as if it were the truth being given to him personally on a silver platter.

"Keith," Lance glanced over at him before he focused his blue gaze back onto the dark streets in order to avoid any ice patches the car might slide on. "If you guys have a witness it means you're getting closer to the killer right?"

"No, it only means we have a witness Lance." Keith placed his hand onto his dashboard slowly, feeling frustration beginning to build up inside of him. He had been treating this case as if it were like any other, like he could easily crack it and find the answer. But he was dead wrong about that and it cost a family their lives. "They probably didn't even see the killers fucking face." Keith growled as he gritted his teeth trying to hold back his rage.

Lance offered a forced smile of reassurance and glanced over at Keith before weakly saying, "But you haven't interviewed them yet right so you can still-"

In a sudden burst of anger Keith slammed his hand onto the dashboard with all his strength and felt himself wanting to scream in frustration, "It's night and it's raining Lance! The god dammed witness didn't see anything like features in these conditions!" He leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of his head. "This is all my fault, if I hadn't been taking this case so lightly I could've saved this family..." He felt his eyes beginning to burn and he squeezed them shut to hold back the tears threatening to spill over. None of this was right, it was as if the killer were toying with him, the stars and killing only families. Both things Keith held a personal attachment to. "I could've spared them from Pyxis..."

Pyxis had to know about him, there was no way these were just coincidences, the stars and the families. Keith couldn't think of anything else for these occurrences meaning that pyxis was simply toying with him. He was nothing but a pawn to the masked man as he controlled Keith like he were his god, chuckling like a mad man from above as he watched the man struggle internally with this.

"Keith it isn't your fault, there wasn't enough evidence to give you any leads..." Lance whispered and took the final turn like the GPS had instructed him to do.

The car slowed to a stop finally and the thundering of rain only increased in sound and Keith took a moment to breathe out the small breath he was holding. Now wasn't the time to be losing his mind, he had to honor the families who were dropping like flies because of his arrogance. He sat up and tilted his head to gain his focus.

"Lance, stay in the car." His hand found the door handle and shoved the door open roughly only to slam it shut once he stepped outside.

He stood in the rain as he looked around the yard slowly, police cars scattered the streets, their lights illuminating the yards on the block as curious neighbors began to step outside to see what the ruckus was outside. Keith felt water plaster his thick black hair onto his skin as it ran down his body. An ominous feeling loomed over the home as multiple people rushed in and out of the victims home. Natasha stood with and umbrella as she talked to a crying civilian off to the side, consoling the heavy lady as she blew her nose into a discolored handkerchief.

"Sir!" Antonio shouted as he rushed out of the house holding his jacket over his head to keep dry, "We need you inside right away, we need to start the investigation and you need to look at something." The brown eyed man grabbed onto Keith's arm and tugged him into motion as the two rushed into the home.

The inside of the home was completely trashed, broken decorations covering the ground, tables broken as if someone had been slammed into it and there was even a hole in the wall wide enough for a fist. "This was one hell of a fight..." Keith breathed in disbelief as his eyes scanned over the beige walls to quickly take note of a nail randomly protruding from it.

Antonio slowly nodded his head in agreement as he let go of Keith slowly, "The eyewitness said that she had seen someone running from the scene, a man." He quietly said as he brown eyes rested onto the broken table.

"How does she know it was a man?" Keith asked as he slowly stepped over a shattered vase on the floor.

"Because it was the families gardener." Antonio whispered as he slid his jacket back on. He looked miserable, as if he had seen something he could never forget.

Keith's insides tensed up as he read Antonio's body language, he was disturbed by something and it only made him feel more guilty. "Where are they Antonio?" Keith asked him with reluctance.

"Well, the mother is upstairs in a child's room. The husband is outside..." He squeezed his eyes shut and choked on his next words, "I suggest waiting to look at him...sir."

Keith felt himself wanting to wreak havoc on the home he stood inside of, to be able to punch something to let out all of his emotions but he just stared at his junior with dark eyes. "Where's Irene?"

"She couldn't stay in the backyard with the husband, she threw up and ran back inside but tripped causing an injury to her knee." Antonio cleared his throat and began to lead Keith through the wreckage around them, "she's upstairs looking at the mothers body currently but we haven't been able to find the child."

"So we have a missing child case as well." Keith mumbled under his breath and started to follow the young man up the staircase.

The steps creaked under his weight, groaning from old age. He could hear quiet mumbling and cameras clicking as they took pictures. "Yes, we have investigator Rose on it right now. And also, investigator Harry has stepped down from his job so I'm now your other apprentice. Sorry sir." Antonio didn't look behind himself as he climbed the final step to turn right and head down a hallway.

Harry chickened out on this case? Keith felt a heavy weight fall onto his shoulders as he stepped into the hallway and looked down at the blood trail leading down into an opened bedroom where police walked in and out of. Antonio stepped to the side in order for Keith to squeeze into the bedroom where he was greeted by a horrific sight inside.

The room was like any other young boys room, posters of iconic video game characters were scattered across the walls, bookshelves were pushed against the walls and held mangas and novels by different authors and mangakas. The child who had lived here had been interested in other cultures clearly since on the computer desk in the corner had the background of a Japanese shrine on it. Keith's eyes slowly settled down on the brunette woman who laid sprawled across the floor, her dead blue eyes wide and her mouth ajar in a silent scream that sent shivers down Keith's body. Her face was cut up and had shrapnel's of broken glass lodged in it, her pajamas torn and blood soaked. Her left arm was turned at an awkward angle showing it was broken and her right hand was outstretched, her nails missing but the infamous star was cut into her skin but this time on her forearm.

"Only a monster could do this..." Irene's disturbed voice sounded from a corner and Keith slowly looked over to see her holding a handkerchief to her mouth as if she were trying to hold back her lunch. Her grey eyes were lined with tears threatening to spill over and he skin pale as a ghost. "If you think this is bad just wait until you see the husband...or what's left of him." She swallowed down air and squeezed her eyes shut. Her hair was pinned up into a bun to make sure it didn't fall into the evidence during the investigation.

Keith swallowed back saliva and grief as he clenched his jaw. What's left of him... The words echoed into his mind as he glanced back down at the wife before peeling his eyes away just as fast. This wasn't right in any way. "How could that be any worse than this?" Keith squeezed his eyes shut and felt a tear slip down his cheek. It was his fault this even happened, he could've put more effort into this case but he blew it off to spend time with Lance and fool around like an idiotic teen.

"Because they left a note written in his blood directed at you." Antonio stated from the doorway, his head hung low and his voice devoid of emotion. "There is a certain crime, that if it is attempted, is punishable, but if it is committed, is not punishable. What is the crime? You should know this one Keith Kogane, you did after all witness it." Antonio slowly lifted his eyes up to meet Keith's, the coffee brown orbs were burning with intensity as he glared at his superior, "That was the note, do you understand what it even means?"

Suicide. That's the answer to Pyxis' riddle they left behind, and of course he knew what it meant; it meant these crimes weren't coincidences, they were meant to happen. They were bringing back greyed out memories that Keith had tried to keep from returning to light. He felt his breath hitch as he tried to hold back the bile rising into his throat, all the deaths occurring by this killer were because of him. "I-I don't know what they mean by that..." He lied to the junior who continued to glare at him, his curly hair disarray as if he had been messing with it earlier.

"Kogane sir," Irene said quietly, "is there something you're hiding from us?" She asked and dropped her hand to her side to show a face full of concern and betrayal. "Are you lying to us about something?" She pressed on.

"I'm not hiding anything!" Keith said firmly but inside of his head he was a mess. His thoughts were jumbled together as his memories of that day came back to mind, why was this happening? Nobody outside of his foster family was supposed to know of this, not Shiro, not Natasha, not even Lance or his closest friends. It was a secret belonging only to Jared's family.

Keith felt the eyes of his juniors on him, but it felt as if there were hundreds of people standing around him in a circle pointing their fingers at him as they chanted 'all your fault' in hushed whispers. His blood ran cold in his veins and his head swam as he became dizzy. "I swear, I'm not hiding anything." He mumbled and pressed his hands to his forehead as the chanting began to give him a headache.

"Then why the fuck does the killer know your name!" Antonio shouted and leaped forward to shove Keith to the floor roughly, his body was hunched over in pure rage as he bared his teeth in a snarl, his eyes wide as his eyebrows joined together into a deep frown. "Are these deaths all your fault?" He yelled and stepped forward to grab Keith by his collar.

Keith's torso was lifted into the air and he felt completely defenseless as he stared at his junior who looked like an entirely new person. He looked as if he were about to kill him, his eyes full of bloodlust as he raised his fist into the air. "Antonio!" Irene shouted as she stumbled over to the two, she had a limp favoring her right ankle. Her grey eyes were streaming in tears as she threw her arms around the young man holding the broken detective in his hands just as he brought his fist down into his right eye.

Keith let out a painful wail as his sight became black in his eye, he felt as if a brick had been slammed into his face and completely obliterated the right side of his face. Antonio dropped him as Irene suddenly yanked him backwards with tremendous strength only a superhero could possibly have before she fell onto the floor next to him in pain from applying too much pressure on her ankle.

Keith fell onto the floor next to the dead woman and the bed. He brought his hand up to his eyes and let out a loud and painful grunt as he opened his left eye only to be met by something completely surprising to him that instantly silenced his cries and his crazy mind. Under the bed was a young boy no older than twelve, holding a hand over his mouth to hide his crying.

His brown eyes were wide as they met Keith's, "Holy shit..." Keith whispered quietly.

"What the hell do you mean by 'holy shit'! I'm going to fucking kill you Kogane!" Antonio screeched before he launched himself back to his feet only to be tackled by Irene and a police officer who was responding to the yelling in the room.

"The kid, he's under the bed!" Keith yelled in sudden realization. The kid was alive, he was okay...well partly okay. He was surely traumatized from the sight of his mother on the floor dead. Keith stretched out his hand in reassurance, trying to coax the child out of his hiding place. "Come here kiddo, I won't hurt you." There was silence in the room as Keith watched the brown eyed child slowly reach out and grab his hand carefully before he began to crawl out from underneath the twin bed.

Keith slowly sat up, ignoring the pain in his eye and head. The young boy sat on his knees, mirroring Keith as he stared up at him still clutching his hand tightly as if he were trying to seek comfort in him. He was of Asian heritage, his eyes were in the shape of almonds and his skin tanned but his hair was a light blonde which was rare in Asians. Within an instant the boy was holding his arms around Keith's waist as he brought the man into a hug, his body shaking as he began to wail in shock and grief. Keith felt his heart break into two as he slowly placed his hand onto the boys head and leaned over to hug him tightly.

One person lived, one person managed to survive something that was related to Keith. The guilt he felt earlier still lingered but now it was turning to sympathy as he held the child in his arms warmly. He was exactly like Keith now, abandoned and sad. An orphan. But it wasn't because his parents left him in a crack house like Keith's had done, this time it was because of Keith's existence. The child suffered purely because of the secrets Keith kept hidden from the world and he didn't want the young boy to suffer any more.

"You're safe with me." He whispered and closed his eye as he felt his body tremble slightly, "I won't allow anything to happen to you."

It was a promise.