don't get me wrong () prodigal son SLOW UPDATES

Four

Chapter Four:

Theodora sat on a bench up against a building, watching as the commotion quieted down. An ambulance had gone thirty minutes prior with the body of Vanessa Hobbs, leaving with it most of the police and nosy citizens who missed out on the peak of the drama.

Gil had come up on the roof and she excused herself, letting Malcolm know she'd be waiting for him down on the street.

It was closer to forty minutes and he still hadn't come down, and she began to wonder if he had forgotten. But a figure marched out of the victims apartment building and found themselves standing in front of Theodora, "I have to start a profile."

Malcolm stood there, looking a mix of excited and worried. "Want to help?"

"Since when do you ask for help on profiling?"

A small smile, "You're right. Want to watch me start a profile? We can order take out, I'll pay."

With that she jumped up, grinning. "How could I turn that down?"

"Not sure." He shrugged, leading them down the street. They made their way back to his apartment which wasn't to far from where they were, and with the streets emptying out it didn't take to much time to return.

He slipped his keys from his pocket and jammed them into the lock, turning and unlocking the door quickly. As they stepped in he retrieved the keys and tossed them to her, Theodora caught them swiftly and pocketed them. They did that a lot, for Malcolm constantly lost his keys within his apartment. This way she would put them in the first drawer of the kitchen right next to the fridge, and if he couldn't find his keys he always knew to check there.

"Someone's here." His brows furrowed, shutting and locking the door, motioning for her to follow silently behind him. They took the stairs slowly, making sure not to make any noise. But when Malcolm got to the last of the steps, peeking his head over, he glanced down at her with a roll of his eyes.

"Hello, Mother."

Jesse, his mother turned around, smiling. "Malcolm—"

But her face fell as soon as she spotted who was with her son. "And Theodora."

She immediately focused back on him, "I stopped by earlier. I'm not sure if your friend told you or not."

He sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't call—"

"You're sister told me you were fired from the F.B.I. Hallelujah, finally you can be done with all this morose profiling nonsense."

"Yes. I'll no longer be dragging our sterling family name through the mud."

"Oh stop it." His mother tisked. "Bright. What a ridiculous alias."

Theodora pursed her lips, nodding slowly. "Well, this seems like a conversation I'd rather not be apart of—"

"Good. Be a dear and leave us two alone. Have a goodnight, Miss Fletcher."

"Mother." Malcolm huffed, turning his attention suddenly to Theodora. "You can stay, Theo. You know that. You were invited up here, my mother on the other hand decided to break in—"

"Break in? I'm your mother."

He nodded, "You can wait in the office, if you'd like. Or you can go home, whatever you want. I'm sure you're tired-"

"I'll be in the office." She told him, waving at his mother. "Have the most wonderful evening Miss Whitley, I'm certain I shall."

Theodora made her way across the silent room and sighed with relief as she entered his office. She closed the sliding doors and flopped onto a ridiculously large chair.