#ethanmars

"Is it already lunch? "He looked at his wristwatch and stood up, taking his coat and leaving the room.

The department was not so crowded and busy, and without the presence of Carter Blake things flowed better. He did not expect his partner to be involved in the case (and not in the best way), without even suspecting a hair from that head. Blake was not the best partner he had ever worked with but at least he did the minimum to get information and now he was in jail with Leighton Perry. Norman still did not accept the idea that Ethan Mars was accused of being the killer simply because he had blackouts and did not remember where he was, it was an insult to the knowledge he had and everything. On the other hand, he was happy to prove to the media and to himself that his intuition and his efforts were not in vain... An innocent man was almost arrested.

He walked to a nearby restaurant and sat at a table near the window, the view of the snow being perfect for him to think and eat in peace. There were two men sitting at the counter, watching the news and commenting on the day. On the other side there was a girl with long, dark hair, having coffee and talking on the cell phone.

"Nothing out of the ordinary in this city... Just fine" he thought to himself.

The waitress came over, holding paper and a pen.

"The famous hero Norman Jayden, uh? " She smiled, extremely friendly.

"An orange juice, please. Er... Are you serving pasta yet?"

"Of course, we are! Do you want a vegetarian accompaniment?"

"No, thank you."

The waitress nodded and retired to deliver the order in the kitchen as he leaned on the window and sighed. The glass seemed to be made of ice and soon he pushed his face away, removing the gloves. Some other people came in, but Norman didn't want to pay attention to it besides his lunch and did it so until he emptied the plate.

The girl returned with the bill and handed a torn paper along.

"I think this is yours, isn't it?" He said handing over the money and returning the paper.

"Oh no, someone left it with the money, it's written on the back that it was to be given to you."

Norman lowered his arm holding the paper, raising an eyebrow and thanking the waitress before getting up and rushing into the street to read. A few steps near the corner he opened the paper and read the following words:

"Are you going to have the courage to face it all again, Norman?"

He raised his face, looking around and then at the message again without understanding what he just read.

Who could have written this for him?

How did they know he had lunch there every day since he moved?

Suddenly his heart sped up and everything seemed dark, still holding the sheet of paper in his hands he desperately searched his pockets for ARI, or his drugs, but again he fell into the reality that there was nothing else to calm him down there and without thinking twice he ran back to his room in the police department in complete shock.

CH.1 --> [here]

The snow had made a good layer on the roofs of the houses and it was a very beautiful view of the apartment so Ethan decided to pull a chair near the window and enjoy the view with a cup of coffee.

"The view from above must be more beautiful, isn't it, Jason?" He whispered with a calm smile, having a little coffee.

"Your brother doesn't like snow at all, but we'll try to make him change his mind."

He felt a hand touch his shoulder and when he turned it was Shaun, still sleepy. "Good morning, dad..."

"Shaun! Good morning!" He got up slowly and put his hand on the boy's hair "I didn't think you were going to wake up any time soon!"

"I promised Madison that I would not stay late to watch TV..."

"Oh, so you two have been talking a lot, haven't you? Anyway, I'm glad you're going to bed earlier, so you can enjoy more of this week..." He took the chair and put it back in the kitchen. "Come on, I made breakfast! Pancakes with chantilly the way you like it!"

"Yay!" Shaun smiled with a sleepy look, sitting on the chair and picking up the cutlery to eat. "Are we going to buy the gifts?"

"Buy? I thought Santa Claus would deliver it to our house...?"

"Daaad..." Shaun said a little angrily, turning to Ethan. "I know Santa Claus doesn't exist, I'm not 5 years old anymore!"

"Can't we even pretend?" Ethan held his laugh, crossing his arms.

Shaun only breathed and ate again, while his father approached the table smiling.

"Since that's how it is... Yes, let's buy some decorations and some gifts..." Ethan stopped in the middle of his speech as if to avoid speaking a certain name, and Shaun quickly noticed.

"What was it, dad?"

"Ah... I just..." He sat down and scratched his head. "I don't know... Do you know the man who was there that day...? That saved y... Has saved us?"

"Uh..." The boy leaned on the chair and stood on his face on the table, paying attention. "The FBI agent?"

"Yes, the FBI agent." Ethan crossed his arms. "What do you think of us inviting him to our Christmas supper? Of course, Madison too."

Shaun opened his eyes and quickly changed posture, the excitement clearly drawn on his face.

"An FBI guy at our home?!? This will be the coolest Christmas ever!" The boy shook his legs and waved several times to encourage his father.

"I'm glad you like the idea, I wouldn't do it without knowing how you feel... Of course, we don't know Mr. Jayden that much, but..."

He was interrupted by Shaun who soon ran to the bathroom to get ready for the ride, making Ethan melt his heart.

Norman arrived at the police station with an umbrella and a cappuccino in hand, a little quieter than normal. With the end of rain and snow appearing his nerves had significantly relaxed, and his willingness to work nearly doubled. He could have returned to Washington, but asked desperately that he might settle in Philadelphia. He didn't know or understand why, but that city created some feeling in him... Not by people (God, never), but by the history, he built there in such a short time. It was peculiar and exciting. Quiet and scary in a way. It looked like a soft wine with pizza, something you wouldn't usually match but would like to try.

Maybe the decision was bad, but it wasn't hard to try. He hated the idea of having to socialize again, it was not his highest quality and certainly never will be. Jayden preferred to sit in his room and work until the end of the day without short conversations. His room remained the same, it seemed like a tasteless joke but it had its charm.

He put the cup of cappuccino on the table full of papers and took off his coat slowly, covering the back of the chair and sitting down.

"Let's see what we have today..." He put his hand inside the suit but did not feel his accessory there, sighing in frustration. "Shit..." Jayden forgot that he had returned his ARI to the FBI shortly before moving in, as well as the Tripto flasks. He didn't want to have hallucinations again after fighting so hard not to have them.

The feeling could be comforting and good at the moment...then he felt at the bottom again, as if it were a path without return. Jayden had several outbreaks during his absence of Tripto, some of them resulting in hospitalization, but now most of the time he felt very good, could focus better on the cases, and write everything back on paper was wonderful. There was no reason to return.

Or did it?

After all, if it hadn't been for Tripto, he might not have overcome the loss of his fellow investigator in Washington.

No...

           If he had been a little faster...

"...shit!" Jayden screamed, covering his face with his hands and taking a deep breath. It was not time to think about the past, even more about the incident. In the corner of his eye, he saw a figure of one hand, it was Susan.

"Excuse me to appear like that without knocking on the door..." Susan was wearing a long green coat, with black heels and white pants.

Norman stood up promptly, still surprised.

"Hello...hm..." He still couldn't complete a sentence without being extremely anxious.

"Susan. Susan Bowler, I think we met shortly after Scott's death in the interrogation room." She held out her hand and Jayden gently shook hands, nodding.

"Sure, sure... What... What are you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to come to thank you for the impeccable work in the first week here in the department... A pity you were not sent here before all this tragedy. The police here only know how to arrest those who are only trying to survive instead of using their brains for something more useful... " Susan smiled lightly and looked around the room.

"Oh... No need! Just doing my duty, I never wanted any recognition... But I am grateful that you have come here personally to thank me."

"Really, I am very grateful... But as a reminder of my gratitude, I have this for you..." She opened the bag and delivered a small snow globe with a Christmas decoration. "I hope you look at this as a memory of what you did for me, and for the other families who suffered at the hands of that monster... I know it's not the ideal gift, but..."

"It's very generous of you, Ms. Susan! Thank you very much. "Jayden held the globe, smiling timidly. "I'm going to make my view clear here in the room... I'll come up with a good place for this!"

"Excuse me, but is this your room?" Susan briefly pointed to the cracked and unfinished walls and floor.

"Aah... That's trivial, I'm not complaining. I was surprised at first too but I got used to the look here!"

"I thought they would treat you better after facing the famous Origami Killer but it seems not... Stupid police officers..." Susan shook her head and sighed. "Anyway, I hope you enjoy Philadelphia! And a merry Christmas to you, Mr. Jayden."

"H-hm... Yeah, merry Christmas to you too! I hope things get better."

Susan smiled briefly and left the room, closing the door carefully and leaving Norman alone again.

The profiler sat in the chair and left the snow globe near the left corner of the desk, the little penguin inside being covered by the snowflakes little by little.

"It looks like you and me, Mr. Penguin!" He said, opening the drawer and taking some files. "Let's get some bad guys soon!"