All is Fair in War || SBI || Mafia AU

࿏ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 60 ࿏

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Ah, Fuck

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Eret watched as his friend and captain became more and more unhinged every day. The man became unreadable. The day Puffy's body was found was when it all began. He had lost some of the most important people to him and the list was only growing. He kept losing while they kept gaining. Two officers had betrayed the precinct and were allied with the criminals they swore an oath to bring down.

Everyone, including Ant Frost, were trying to get back to work. Punz was struggling because he had, yet again, lost another partner who was his best friend. Ant could barely walk and yet insisted on coming to work every day, Red, the brunette's boyfriend, came in every day with some heated lunch and to drive him to and from work. As much as Eret loved to see the red-head, it was the worst-case for his appearances. The brunette walked from the small kitchen as Ant wheeled himself around in a wheelchair, the bandage on his leg could be seen through his pants because of the thickness of them.

The brunette sighed, his eyes trailing up to see his captain and friend pacing his office mumbling something to himself. Everything was going to shit and they were paying the ultimate price for it.

The coffee machine paused, the sergeant picked up her white mug and turned her back to the other officers, making her way up the stairs to where she was stationed with her partner. Elaina was Eret's best friend, partner (romantic and work wise) and roommate, the two were practically inseparable. He placed his mug on the desk and took a sigh, leaning back in his chair and sighing, running a hand down his face.

The blonde frowned, looking up from her computer. She moved her rolly chair to the side of her desk and leaned on her arms, looking at her partner. Elaina knew how much pressure Eret was under, he had barely slept since the reveal and was struggling to keep the work environment afloat since Dream decided to quarantine himself off from everyone else. It hurt her heart to know that they were struggling.

"Eret?"

"Wassup?" His deep voice rang out, the man lifting himself up on his chair and straightening his back, looking at the girl with a smile. It was almost as if he wasn't struggling only moments ago.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really"

"It's healthy"

"Elaina..."

"Eret..." She retaliated. They had been dodging all her questions since she started and knew first-hand how these things can eat you up. Elaina looked at them, a saddened expression on her face. She simply sighed, using her arms to pull her back to the front of her computer and began to tap away once again.

Recently, security footage of Puffy's murder had been uncovered. Seems the killers were either sloppy or didn't care. They were able to identify three of the people as Tubbo, Ranboo and Jack Manifold. Scott was beyond shocked to see the split-haired teenagers face on the footage. He was left speechless and didn't talk for a while, trying to wrap his head around the ordeal.

One person, though, was left as a mystery. No one could place the face nor could they find him in the database. Dream was yet to look at the footage because he out-right refused to watch the woman who was a second mum to him die. George pointed out that it looked like Noah Sparklez, Puffy's son and Dream's childhood best friend who ran away and disappeared years ago.

Elaina had taken on the responsibility of figuring it out, using the then-teenagers civilian file profile to cross-reference the man in the footage. She was just waiting for the program to finish its scanning— it was too slow for her liking.

"Why Ponk?"

"Hm?" Elaina looked up at her partner. They were staring at the empty, black screen on their computer with a zoned-out expression.

"Ponk. Why him? He was a dedicated worker and sweet guy, why would he change?"

"People do strange things for love."

"Love?" Eret snapped out of his daze and looked up at the blonde. She rolled herself back to the end of her desk, leaning on her arms as the brunette shifted his chair to look at the girl.

"He loved Sam, remember?"

"Fuck. I forgot" he ran a hand through his hair. "Goose was right this whole time— after the trade-off, Ponk became so closed off and secretive. Why didn't I see it?!"

"Hey, don't blame yourself"

"How can I not? I'm the sergeant, Elaina, it's my job!"

"Nothing that happened is your fault. Ponk's betrayal has nothing to do with you— that was all him. And Jimmy? He was already a spy when he came in, we were all just too preoccupied to see the red flags." She stated with a serious expression on her face. She'd be damned if she let Eret blame themself. "I just feel horrible for Punz and Scott... Punz finally let someone else in and Scott allowed himself to fall in love for the first time... both, broken."

The brunette sighed into her hands, leaning on her desk. Elaina opened her mouth to say more but her computer interrupted, a beeping noise coming from the contraption. Both their heads turned to the device, the blonde pulling herself over to look at the results. Her screen told her exactly who the man was and her eyes widened.

"Shit" Elaina muttered quietly.

"What? Who is it?" Eret stood from their chair and walked behind their best friend, leaning down to read the screen. Doing exactly as Elaina, their eyes widened. "Fuck me"

"Noah Sparklez... Puffy's older son" They turned to look at one another. Eret sucked in a deep breath, his head slowly turning to the screen once again as it showed the man's files.

By some dumb luck, George was right.

"This is going to crush Dream" The girl cried, unable to take her eyes away from the screen. The brunette straightened her back, placing a hand on the blonde's back. Her eyes looked over the wooden banister which blocked a big fall from the two levels.

"I'll tell him. Fuck..."

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It couldn't have gone worse. The minute the words left the sergeant's mouth, Dream broke down. Eret knew that his friend was sensitive right now but he didn't expect to see the man actually break into tears and throw a file at a wall. He had tried to calm down the situation but it only got worse. She prompted to calling Sapnap in, the man knowing how to help the blonde.

Now, here Eret laid with his white ex-stray cat, Goose, in his lap. The TV was playing yet they couldn't focus on the screen. Elaina was already asleep so there goes one distraction. The TV wasn't working so there was another and no one would be awake at two in the morning... except Dream.

The brunette groaned, leaning their head back into the lounge. Deciding it was futile, they just closed their eyes and hoped to get some rest before the cycle began once again.

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Words: 1,175

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-Ever