Karishma uses her one hand to hang her detective badge from her neck as she rushes her steps up the stairs of the station. Captain Lanna wants to see her. It is not a big surprise that this request has finally reached her but it is a big surprise that her captain has waited this long to do this. It has been days. Normally, her captain would try to put out the fire as soon as she sees the flame. This time, it almost feels like she is afraid of the heat so she waits until the flame burns out on its own.
"Karishma." Someone calls her and that forces her to turn around when she is a few feet away from the captain's office. As soon as she sees the source of the familiar sound, she smiles out of the habit.
"Jo. Hi." Karishma greets cheerfully and quickly approaches with a hug. It hasn't been very long since they last saw each other but with everything that happened, it feels like it has been too long. "How... Hmm... How is Brian?"
"He is coming to." Joanne smiles lightly although her heart is so heavy. "The doctor said it might be another couple of days before he can go home."
"Yeah."
"Look." Joanne places her both hands on Karishma's arms as if she is trying to prevent her from getting away with what she is about to say. She puts on her serious face; the one she always uses with her boy who is a bit too energetic sometimes. "I keep hearing people say that you shot Brian."
Karishma looks at the lady in front of her with a lump that suddenly forms in her throat. She has never felt hesitated admitting to the fact but with Brian's wife asking her in person, it feels different; especially when Joanne has been nothing but wonderful to her. She has become something close to a family. "I-"
"Did he do anything?" Joanne asks without accusing Karishma of anything. She asks out of pure curiosity and confusion. Still, it is the unexpected question that stuns Karishma and forces her to avoid the sight. She tries to look away but Joanne manages to find her way to meet her eyes. "What did he do, Karishma?"
"It... is not my place to say." Karishma squeezes herself through the tiny hole that she sees as an escape. She knows she wouldn't be able to run from the question but she takes her chance with the lousy excuse.
"They asked me to come in and fill out some papers." Joanne digs into her tote bag and begins to lower her voice as she tries to take home at least one explanation. "I was finding his document when I came across this at his desk. Hidden among other things."
Karishma takes crumpled pieces of papers from Joanne and starts examining them one by one. They are information on things that Brian shouldn't have had his hands on. There are Haseena's house's house plan, details on buildings Haseena would visit, Haseena's pictures and Will Hughes's confidential criminal record. All were printed out before they knew that they had to shadow Haseena. All were intended to be shredded and destroyed after they were named the heroes.
"What is going on, Karishma?" Joanne whispers with concerns and uncertainty. What she is so certain of is that there are so much more to the story than everyone keeps on telling her.
"Karishma!" A boy shouts and runs as fast as he can towards Karishma. As soon as he reaches her, his feet are lifted from the ground and he is in Karishma's arm.
"Hey." Karishma giggles as she puts the boy back to the ground. While he possesses most of Brian's features, he still has some resemblances of his mother. He is almost like the perfect combination between the two. Karishma tousles his dark hair before looking back at his mother. She hands the papers back and smiles. "They are just for the case we were on. Brian must've accidentally taken them home."
"If he's done something-"
"I'll see what I can do, Jo. Don't worry." Karishma assures Joanne of something she doesn't know how to do but the worries and troubles that Joanne starts to wear on her face leaves her with no choice.
