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Chapter Nine
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Scarvy listened to Jareth and Sal's stories, his own rage by proxy increasing with every word until his involvement was reached. "What happens to Aaron? What can I do? What do you need from me?" He growled and Jareth delighted in the blood thirst in the detective's voice. Yes, William Scarvy was exactly the man for the job; Jareth wished more men of Scarvy's caliber existed in the Underground.
"Detective, even with all my abilities, I am at a standstill to find these perpetrators as they've used mundane means to execute their nefarious plot. I'm a knowledge and powerful man but have limited resources in this Realm and many responsibilities in my own. As an experienced officer of the law, and a remarkably intuitive one I might add, I need you to do whatever it is that you do to track down criminals by mundane means in your Realm." As he detailed his requirements to Scarvy, Jareth detected his intense interest; Scarvy's eyes brightening and the spinning wheels of his mind tangible as the detective worked through the mystery.
"As for Aaron, for the present I've left his memories intact as they are until we solve this mystery. Once this is resolved I'll alleviate his suffering by erasing his traumatic memories and restoring his life as I will attempt to do for any others I locate. Unfortunately, I cannot return his daughter. " Jareth added regretfully as the magics that transformed Zoe were permanent. "Will you help us?"
"Without a doubt! These bastards can't be allowed to continue this bullshit." Scarvy wrung his hands then scrubbed his face as he faced Jareth and Sal. "Just give me some time to cross check a ton of records and databases to see what I can dig up. Maybe once we figure out a pattern to these guys we can start tracking them. I need to write down every detail that might be relevant to the case so I can double check everything. Especially any names you can recall."
"You shall have it." Jareth said eagerly.
"Done, man! And I'll see what records I can dig up through EMS. There's probably more like this that no one's figured out yet." Sal suggested and Scarvy agreed and then exchanged phone numbers with Sal so they could pass relevant information as they found it, privacy laws be damned. Jareth conjured a communication crystal for Scarvy and handing it to him, explained its usage.
"Contact me at any time, for any reason whether it relates to this information or not." Jareth offered and Scarvy took the crystal gratefully before asking another question.
"What do I call you?"
Jareth laughed, "You, detective, you may call me Jareth at present." Jareth stood beckoning Sal to him, "We must be off but do give me regular reports on your progress and I will check in as I can, William." They shook hands then Sal and Scarvy shook hands, too.
"It was good to meet you, William." Sal said sincerely, surprised that Jareth and Sarah had several Mortal friends.
"You, too, Sal. We're going to catch these bastards." He said and Sal didn't doubt the vow.
"Absolutely!" Sal grinned and joined Jareth who waited for him near the front door. A moment later and they both vanished from Scarvy's living room as if they'd never existed and Scarvy shook his head slowly still wrapping his thoughts around the bizarre and abrupt turn in his life, again.
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Lizzie's ending of her week Aboveground officially marked her first partial week spend at high school. Her dad enrolled her as soon as possible knowing she wanted to focus on a normal, fifteen-year-old routine. She'd settled rather easily into a life with her father once Sarah teleported her personal items to his home and created false documents to support her identity with her Aboveground documents already in existence. Eric took her shopping for school clothes and supplies the next day after Lizzie arrived, an activity he thought he'd never enjoy again once Sarah took Lizzie away to the Underground and they both enjoyed the father/daughter bonding day immensely.
Lizzie started high school as freshman and enrolled under the college preparatory courses including; the advanced maths, sciences, and literary courses. She tried not to think about her six month time limit in the Aboveground for the present and took pleasure in being normal for the first time in seven years and making ordinary, Mortal friends; which included not performing any spells or magic. She promised herself no conjuring, no crystals for six months or until she decided to return to the Underground.
During her first day she met several people that were friendly and treated her like person and not a freak for the first time since she was a young girl but no one she really clicked with and understood. But her second day another new female student joined several of her same classes, by the name of Ann Greenwich and her beautiful, blond hair which she wore in a single braid reminded Lizzie of her savior Awen. And since both were the new girls they instantly became the best of friends sharing secrets and gossip whenever they could.
At the start of their first class together, English Lit I, and on Lizzie's start of her second week they huddled at two desks in the rear of class. Ann passed Lizzie a note when the teacher looked away, which Lizzie grabbed quietly and opened under her hand. She rapidly read Ann's neat script.
'I met the cute boy already, his name's Greg.' Ann wrote and Lizzie repressed a squeal. They'd been eyeing a gorgeous dark haired boy during their lunch period, apparently Ann figured out his name and Lizzie wondered how she'd found out...had she met him yet? A touch of envy spiked her chest but Lizzie shoved it down, it wouldn't do to ruin her first real friendship over a boy. Picking up her pencil she scratched out a quick reply.
'How'd you find out?' Lizzie checked the teacher's location before passing the note back to an expectant Ann who read it, wrote an answer then returned the folded paper.
'I asked him yesterday, saw him at the mall.' Grinding her teeth Lizzie tried not to think about the extremely cute Greg and how good he'd look with Ann.
'Did he ask you out?' Lizzie wrote back.
'Not yet but it's early.' Came Ann's reply and Lizzie glanced over her shoulder to see Ann's bright, pale eyes laughing in amusement at her new friend's obvious jealousy.
"Elizabeth Morton, does my class bore you?" Their teacher announced in her nasally voice causing Lizzie to snap around in her seat.
"No, Mrs. White." Lizzie answered obediently and heard Ann snicker behind her.
"Then perhaps you could pay closer attention to the lesson." She chastised and Lizzie flushed as the rest of the class grew silently icy. Lizzie ignored Ann's further attempts at note passing, waiting impatiently until class ended. Meanwhile, no one noticed an invisible and stealthed pixie flitting from bookcase to bookcase as she spied on the unknown Goblin Princess. Alia obeyed the King's word to the very point, following Lizzie every possible moment without revealing her presence and stealing any bit of food or rest as she may. Alia willing exhausted herself for her friend and her sovereign and yet she noticed her Princess seemed not to notice her own absence. The little pixie did her best to put that hurtful thought far from her mind.
"I can't believe you talked to him first without me!" Lizzie jokingly accused Ann as they walked out of English class, Lizzie nudging Ann's shoulder with her own.
"Well, what was I supposed to do? I was at the mall last night, turn around and bam...there he was! I couldn't very well pass up a perfect opportunity to speak with him. His full name is Greg Simpson, by the way, and he's a junior!" Ann bounced in place a little as they walked down the hall towards their lockers before their lunch break.
"Oh wow...a junior...my mom would kill me."
"Didn't you say you're mom's not here? You're parents are divorced, right?"
"Yeah, but she'd find out eventually." Lizzie's enthusiasm for the handsome boy waned as they considered this new information.
"Not if you don't tell her." Ann suggested with a secretive twinkle in her eyes. Something funny and uncomfortable niggled Lizzie at Ann's proposal but she smiled anyway because she didn't want her new friend to know.
"Maybe." Lizzie answered noncommittally.
"Mind if I sit here?" A male voice asked and Lizzie craned her head around and up to see Greg Simpson standing next to her with his lunch tray. Lizzie ungracefully sputtered a bit of her soda as she hurriedly tried to reply before he left.
"Yeah, sure you can sit here!" She said feeling her face burn and become prickly. Ann sat across from her with and when Lizzie caught her eyes Ann's expression seemed oddly detached for a moment before she smiled broadly and agreed with Lizzie's invitation. Greg pulled the chair next to Lizzie out and sat down.
"I'm Greg and you're Lizzie, right?" His smile and knowing her name caught Lizzie off guard so she just stared at him unsure of what to say. "Your friend Ann told me."
"Oh...okay, thanks, Ann." Lizzie gave her friend a sheepish thank you feeling horribly guilty after her jealousy earlier. Ann shrugged noiseless, her eyes forgiving.
"So, Greg," Ann prompted, "What kind of movies do you like?" And Greg laughed pleasantly and began a long, speech that seemed rather prepared to Lizzie about his favorite movies but his voice was so wonderful to her ears that she didn't mind the banal subject.
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Still nothing...days of searching the library and nothing of value relating to the original spells to be found, not even fragments of information. The goblin, Skittle, rested at Sarah's feet his big eyes gazing up at her in worshipful fascination, dozens of scrolls scattered near him. She sat in a large, throne-like dark wood chair with carven designs on every surface and plush, tapestry upholstery. She rested her head on one hand leaning awkwardly on the vast table, slowly turning page after vellum page of the latest volume. Her eyes long ago ceased to focus on anything outside of a two foot radius as she hunted through the insanely large library.
"I can't believe none of the Goblin Kings, including mine, ever considered organizing this chaos. And you know what's worse, Skittle?" She nudged the little goblin with her foot and he grunted a query. "What's worse is that with all my magic I can't even use a spell to find I want because I don't even know exactly what I'm looking for, how infuriating is that? Hmm?" Skittle grunted again then yawned. "I know exactly how you feel." And Sarah joined Skittle with a jaw cracking yawn then flipped another page.
"Sarah! There you are!" Jareth hurried into the library giving Sarah a much desired excuse to abandon her research. "Any luck?"
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No, none whatsoever, I can't believe your ancestors didn't leave any records of the original spell." Sarah complained standing from the chair and stretching her tired back and sore bottom. Jareth embraced her and rubbed her shoulders from her front.
"They did, I know they did. Sorcerers document every spell especially ones as influential as The Labyrinth. If it's not in our library it must be at Camlann." He assured her. Sarah rested her head on his chest closing her eyes, not looking forward to a return visit to Camlann. "But Sarah I have news from my visit Aboveground." He said urgently.
"Really, want did Sal want?" She murmured feeling herself suddenly very tired and drifting off.
"It's disturbing; first you must see a crystal recording of a Runner's memory. Remember the Runner Aaron?" Sarah's eyes snapped open and she raised her head from his chest.
"Yes, of course I remember. What about him?" She didn't like his tone of voice, something dire must've occurred Above and Sarah felt a sense of dread. Jareth didn't answer, instead he manifested a crystal and handed it her. She quirked her eyebrows but took it without question and watched it only to have Jareth snatch it back from her minutes later before she could destroy it out of sheer rage.
"Who does this? I'll personally gut them alive!" Sarah snarled conjuring an empty crystal to throw into a library wall where it shattered, Skittle yelped and hid under the library table shivering at his Queen's temper. "Someone's been purposefully forcing wish invocations and we risk losing control of The Labyrinth each time. Meanwhile, we kidnap away children wrongfully wished away..." She fixed her severe gaze upon Jareth whose anger matched her own. "Find them, Jareth, find them and do whatever you must to cease their hateful crimes; I'll continue my pursuit of the original spells." Jareth bowed his head to his Queen, his heart, mind, and Bond following her every emotion. "Hopefully one of us will be successful before tragedy visits." She finished with a calmer voice framing his face in her hands, his eyes as fierce as hers.
"It will be as you say, my Queen." He pledged the Bond flaring with his words and Sarah pulled him into a deep, punishing kiss their tongues tangling as their hands knotted in each other's hair. Jareth responded to her rising passion, pressing her to the nearest wall free of shelves and yanking her bodice low until one breast lie exposed. Sarah moaned and tore his shirt open as they attacked one another against the archaic stone. Their coupling occurred fast and hard; their ardor exhausting a short but concentrated fuse. Skittle observed the King and Queen from the safety of the table's shadow; he loved his Queen but knew to stay well clear of her when her temper or her passion rode high. He left that to the King.
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"Labyrinth," Sarah called aloud her temper still high after Jareth's news.
"Yes, my Queen?" It answered quickly, more quickly than ever before an eagerness lacing its tone.
"What do you remember of your Binding?" And Sarah felt a ripple of consternation as the being known as The Labyrinth delved into its long past.
"I remember pain...confusion...there was much confusion for a long time until I understood what was done to me and by whom." "You don't remember the spell they used?"
"No, it is a subject I've thought extensively on but I can recall nothing of that time. Why do you want to know?" It requested. Ever since the Solstice she and The Labyrinth's conversations became positively sociable compared to its previous reticence. Sarah silently thanked whatever deity inspired her to include it in their celebration that night. She now comprehended that as a non-corporeal being it likely never participated in such a celebration before and had never previous understanding of the connectedness of the magic and living beings of the Underground.
"Labyrinth, it's my hope to find a way to alter the Game or perhaps your Binding to some degree. I know how much you desire your freedom and if I could trust your motives I'd gladly free you but it's not my decision. But if I find the original spells they used to Bind you we may be able find a way modify our situation to the improvement of us all."
"I see. I will endeavor to recall any details that I may." "You'd willing help us?" Sarah asked still skeptical of the acute change in The Labyrinth.
"If it may improve things; after experiencing a connection with the Land due to your choice, I find myself reexamining many viewpoints which I now see are quite limited. Never before did I understand the flow of the magic of the Land and the Veiled Realm." Its speech gave Sarah chills, she'd been working on the Labyrinth for seven years trying to break through to its real thoughts and after one chance encounter which she herself avoided for years out nervousness a circumstance occurred which changed everything over night.
"Thank you, Labyrinth. I'll do what I can for you as well."
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Lizzie shoved textbooks deep into her puke green locker exchanging them for new ones, a grin plastered to her face. Her mood stuck on accelerated buzz since her lunch chat with Greg while her new best friend Ann played wing man the entire conversation. Normalcy really suited her; she could feel her life quickly finding a rhythm that made her truly happy for the first time in...Well... years. Peace settled over her restlessness as she thought of the handsome Greg. Barely more than a week Aboveground and she might already have a boyfriend! He did seem very interested in her; he talked the entire lunch about his favorite movies, hobbies, and sports he enjoyed. A sighed passed from her lips as she shut her locker and not paying attention to her surroundings she slammed into someone rather unyielding.
"Oh!" She yelped, her bag slipping from her shoulder and biology books slamming on the tile floor.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" A moderately deep masculine voice said in consternation and Lizzie raised her face to the most beautiful greenish-gold eyes she'd ever seen widened in sincere alarm.
"Umm...my fault...I wasn't looking where I was going..." She mumbled trying to focus her rapidly congealing brain and ignoring her personal items scattered at her feet. The young man stared back at her then glanced at her bag and books before kneeling.
"Let me get these for you, at least." Lizzie watched as he lowered himself and quickly crouched next to him as they gathered her things.
"Oh, you don't have to but thanks." She met his gaze just few inches from hers, a warm blush creeping over her skin.
"I don't remember seeing you before..." He smiled showing perfectly straight teeth and offered his hand, "Name's Gettysburg Jones but call me Getty, and you are?"
"Elizabeth Morton...pleased to me you, G—Gettysburg...like the battle?" She shook his hand restraining a giggle at his unusual name which he caught.
"Go ahead and get it out of your system, I know my name is insane." He tried to sound severe but a laughed escaped him, too. He stood, still holding Lizzie's hand and bringing her up with him while holding her books with his other.
Lizzie's blush deepened. "I'm sorry, that's awfully rude of me." Getty released her hand and shrugged.
"It's okay...happens all the time. My parents were a little crazy and huge history buffs."
"So they really did name you after the battle?" She asked, shocked.
"And the town, and the address, etc, etc..." He sarcastically replied and this time Lizzie did laugh aloud.
"Wow...and I thought my parents were weird."
"Trust me. Mine are gold medal Olympians at weirdness, but they're okay." His green-gold eyes sparkled pulling Lizzie within their clever depths and Lizzie forgot all about Greg's entertaining speech at lunch.
"You can call me Lizzie." A shy small spread over her lips and Getty returned her smile.
"Okay, Lizzie, mind if I walk you to your next class?"
"You said his name is Gettysburg? Like the Battle of?" Ann asked again and Lizzie nodded excitedly. "How did you meet him?"
"I bumped into him in the hallway and he was
soo nice! He helped me pick up all my things and even walked me to class!" Lizzie gushed and skipped a couple steps while Ann and she walked to the afternoon buses. Ann gave her friend a skeptical glare.
"And what about Greg whom you just died over at lunch today?"
"Oh...well...I like Greg, too!" Lizzie amended biting her lower lip, remembering how she'd been so jealous of Ann just hours earlier. "But wait until you meet Getty! He's so funny and polite and he's gorgeous!"
Ann pouted observing Lizzie almost prance to the buses, "You know I didn't have to stick my neck out to talk to Greg for you. Maybe I'll just take him for myself!"
"I know, I'm sorry, bumping into Getty was an accident. I didn't mean it like that!" Lizzie backpedaled and looked her friend in the eyes with as much sincerity as she could muster. "Just give me a few days to get to know them both before I pick one, okay?"
"Well...okay...I guess so." The two friends dropped the touchy subject of boys for the present and continued to the buses before separating to their respective ones, waving their sorrowful goodbyes.
As Lizzie turned away, she didn't see her friend smile deviously and she didn't see her true friend, Alia, shake in fury at Ann's expression.
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After seeing Ann's strange smile Alia teleported herself back to the castle in order to report to the King whom she found resting with the Queen. She insisted to the goblin guard at the bedroom chambers door that she needed to be allowed entry immediately. The goblin roused the King and Queen who bade Alia entry; they both look rumbled but rested, still partially dressed in day clothes.
Alia pretended not to notice their odd attire and reported the new friends that Lizzie had made and especially the disconcerting look Ann had given Lizzie once Lizzie's back was turned. Jareth and Sarah both didn't like hearing this news but it hardly consisted of grave danger. Teenagers were notorious for their backstabbing and shallow behaviors; even to those they called friends. Lizzie deliberately chose an Aboveground life and they couldn't very well rescue her from every danger of human emotion just because she might be hurt. They were also divided on how they viewed Lizzie meeting two boys in less than two weeks. Sarah, of course, didn't like the idea at all and decided she'd pay Lizzie a visit for a much needed mother daughter talk. Eventually, they thanked Alia, told her they'd keep the information under consideration, and released her to return Above to continue to spying on Lizzie.
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Once Alia left them and unable to resume sleeping, Sarah cleaned and dressed herself and returned to the library continue to her hunt for the ancient Binding and Game spells. A few hours later Jareth joined her and both hunched over dusty volumes without any luck.
"We might as well admit it, Jareth. The spell isn't here." She stated closing the lasted book with a dull, echoing thump causing dust probably older than its King to waft over the table.
"I suspect you're right. There's not even any reference to it in any of these writings. I can only assume all the original documentation must still be at Camlann." He reluctantly agreed, knowing how much Sarah detested dealing with the officials at the capital city.
"Great...I guess I'm off to Camlann but I want to visit Lizzie first, I want to talk to her about her Heart Song...aahhh..." Sarah cried out as the Summoning took over her body and Jareth jumped to action. He wanted to gain the scene of the invocation as quickly as possible in hopes of catching the interlopers. With a wave of his hand he changed their clothes and leapt to Sarah's side as she focused on the incoming information that would lead to the Wished Away. Moments later they teleported to the scene to find much the same as they'd been finding the two years; two crying individuals, one a child or near child, clinging to another huddled on the floor. In addition to their standard Goblin King and Queen speech they added several questions. Sarah knelt in front of the young mother sobbing over her young toddler held tightly in her arms while Jareth hastily searched the small trailer of the single mother.
"Did someone force you to call us?" Sarah asked in a firm yet gentle voice hoping to not frighten the young girl further. The girl fanatically shook her head 'no' but gave no verbal answer.
"Did someone physical threaten you or your child?" Sarah asked and again the mother shook her head but also refused to raise her head from her child and meet Sarah's face.
"I'm not going to harm you or your child but I need to know the truth. Did you truly intend to wish your child away?" Sarah asked her third question, desperate to understand the mother's intent. This time the young girl sobbed and looked Sarah in the eyes and while she still gave Sarah no audible answer, Sarah saw a fresh trail of blood on the girl's neck leading to a horizontal slash at her throat. Rage sharpened Sarah's vision until every detail of the knife wound perfectly imprinted itself upon her memory. The girl appeared thin and malnourished, certainly unable to complete a Run successfully and trying may actually kill her. Deciding for once to take a choice away from someone so unsuited to the task, with a heavy heart Sarah conjured a crystal and handed it to the girl.
"Take it, child. It will make your life easier and I swear by all Gods witnessing that I will give your child a good life and home, never to know hunger." Sarah said softly resting on hand upon the brow of the crying girl. As her memories the mother's of her former life vanished she gradually released her hold upon her baby allowing Sarah to draw the little boy away and hand her the crystal of her dreams instead.
Jareth witness the exchange from the doorway, his search of the meager premises futile; her home appeared to be in some very poor, third world country. The interlopers having escaped by mundane means once again; even as a Mortal he had never felt as powerless as he did at this moment. He did feel pride for his Sarah's handling of the heartbreaking circumstances. They were not truly required to offer each Wisher a chance to Run but it was done to up hold the Council's hypocritical sensitivities to 'stealing children' although that's exactly what they did. However, once the wish was invoked only three conclusions could be reached; the child was taken for the dreams, the child was lost during a Run, or the child was won back during a Run. They were as powerless to reverse the magic as the wisher, once again reminding Jareth for the urgency to find the original spell so they may modify the spell's parameters to their needs without the Council's knowledge.
Jareth joined Sarah as she stepped away from the now calmer young girl clutching the crystal; he admired the stout little male child in Sarah's arms and smiled a bit before teleporting them directly to the Transformation Chamber, where they would remain until the boy child became a part of the Underground forever.
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Scarvy stretched in his office chair, raising his arms above his head and arching his back until he felt and heard a satisfying 'crack' midway along his spine before standing and heading to the coffee pot. He'd been hard at work online for several hours over his shift time but off the clock since this was research for his personal case not NYPD related. Only a couple of days elapsed ever since the surprising visit from Jareth the Goblin King...and didn't that just beat all...but he'd gotten to work on the case immediately. When given the choice seven years ago by the Goblin King and Queen whether or not he wanted to remember or forget everything that happened between them he'd instantly chosen to remember but he'd never
really believed he'd ever see either of them again. Who would?
And to find out they collected NY professionals as friends, well wasn't that a twist in Scarvy's boxers...what the hell was some magical fairy King doing picking out cops and paramedics as buddies? Not that he was jealous, it just was unexpected to have Sal peek around Jareth as if he'd known the guy for years...and maybe he had, wasn't like Scarvy really knew either of them. So, in that case, why was he helping them? He'd asked himself that same question dozens of times the last 48 hours and the same irrational answer floated to his consciousness...because it felt right, never mind the sleazy bastards who were hurting innocent people—catching them would be icing on the Scarvy's 45th birthday cake. No, the real reason kept coming back to fulfilling something in William Scarvy that he'd been looking for his whole life, something the even being cop didn't entirely discharge, some need that kept him awake nights when others slept soundly, something that drove him to remain a bachelor because his work was his life. And that concept made his head spin when he allowed himself to think about it too long.
Focusing instead on the coffee pot, he poured a generous amount into his oversized mug—two creams, four sugars...how some of these guys drank the station house slug straight-up black blew his mind. Scarvy stirred the brown liquid and shuffled back to his desk; being the last one in for the night the rest of the office lights were off making his immediately area the only bright spot in the ocean. He didn't mind, made it easier to concentrate on his work but he probably should give it rest soon otherwise he'd be no good for tomorrow's shift and he did have full-time responsibilities to the citizens of New York City even though his heart wrenched him in other, illogical directions.
He established his bottom back into a moderately comfortable position, difficult enough given the city's low budget for office furniture, and resumed cross referencing his available information through various criminal databases at his disposal. He'd disseminated everything Jareth and Sal explained to him, asked a few pointed questions, and wrote all the pertinent data into his investigation pad for later use. The same pad he referenced now as he build a profile of the criminals and their Modus Operandi and so far he'd compiled a list:
-Two perpetrators, most likely men
-Possibly Mortal or Fae not using magic
-Forcing wish invocations for at least 2 years according to Jareth
-Wished aways increased to approx. average 6 a month up from less than 1 a month equaling over 140 wished aways, most of which were tainted invocations
-The locations occurred all over the world
-Always a missing child or adolescent
-Potential for insanity in person last seen with missing person
Working off this basic list of known information Scarvy cross referenced criminal cases starting in the city of New York and gradually expanded his search statewide, countywide, countrywide, and eventually he wanted to search worldwide starting with the countries of the known wished aways but that was a larger amount of work which he'd put off until the last. Meanwhile, during his data search he and Sal listened for any calls of a similar nature on their radios citywide and Sal listened to his police scanner as well when off duty; they wanted to catch these bastards and given that Scarvy had already found five possible matching cases in the greater New York city area they suspected it was only time before these bastards hit the City again and Scarvy wanted to be there when they did.
A/N: Thanks CSIGH - I love writing OC's and fanfic gives me a quick outlet and feedback. I'm actually working on some original fic right now, we'll see...
