. B O N E S . S H A T T E R . ;; Cryssie

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

She laid a gentle hand on Leo's arm, "We won't give up until we find her attacker," she promised.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Leo nodded slightly. "Hey, Josh, can we have this list?" he called. Someone brought him a physical list, as in a stack of papers with names on them.

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

"How many live here in the Refuge?" Phoenix asked, eyeing the papers.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"A lot," Leo said. He glanced at the list. "Over twenty thousand."

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

"Twenty-thousand," Phoenix repeated, voice dropping with disbelief, "We have to go through all these people?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Yup," Leo said. He'd done worse things in his lifetime.

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

"That'll take forever," Phoenix murmured, running a hand through her blonde hair. The heat in her palms was wavering between getting hotter and cooling off, fluctuating back and forth.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"We won't be the only ones sifting through the names," Leo reassured her. "But it will still take a long time."

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

"We might as well get started right away," Phoenix looked up at him, her gaze very steady, "We don't have any time to waste."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Let's go back to my house and get to work," Leo said.

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

Phoenix nodded, a look of determination steeling in her eyes, "Okay!"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Leo nodded to the soldiers as they made their way out the front door. It was relieving to leave the house, but it didn't completely lift the weight off his shoulders. Nothing but time would do that.

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

Phoenix walked out and down the sidewalk. It was a terrible thing and the fact that it happened under cover of the Refuge...it made her shiver. She took a deep breath to calm her beating heart.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Leo looked over at her and some of the hardness in his eyes softened. "Hey, are you doing okay?"

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

Phoenix nodded, her lips pursed, "I'm just worried about the people in the Refuge."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

(Every time I see this thread, a song starts playing in my head, lol)

Leo stopped walking, a shadowed look crossing his face. "Are you sure you want to do this? It will be dangerous... and exhausting. There will be times you'll feel helpless, times you won't know what direction to turn. You won't know what the right answer is or how to find it. It won't be easy, catching this killer."

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

"I can't just sit back and do nothing," Phoenix told him sternly, crossing her eyes, "I can do this."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Leo nodded and didn't say anything else on the subject. When they reached his house, he opened the door for her.

[нαℓƒ~мσση]

Phoenix gave him a soft, thankful smile and walked inside.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Leo set the list down on his kitchen table and took a seat. "We did find some evidence on the murderer," he said. "But most of it could be useless. Like the fact that no out-of-place fingerprints were found, which means she either knew him or he wore gloves."