A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

"I seriously was hoping that they would get together." Fingers were interlocked behind her neck, and her gait was casual. Light brown hair was tied back into a ponytail, and full lips parted with a slight sigh. "But then, that all happened." Her lips turned into a pout, and her light blue eyes glanced over to her team member.

"It couldn't be helped. It was unlikely that she was going to be safe from him forever," he responded as his green-hazel optics fell onto his partner. He combed his right fingers through his spiked auburn hair, and the group ring, which had a design of a red ruby wrapped in metal, glinted a bit in the morning sun. "And, it's been two months now. I feel bad for her, Chris, but you know how Nick is on that subject."

"Why do you think I'm mentioning it when we're collecting breakfast for everyone?" She crossed her arms before she put her hands in her grey-blue coat. "Even though he's still worried about our safety, like he always is, he's concerned about her too." An annoyed frown greeted her lips. "I don't expect him to bolt off and rescue her. That'd be suicide, but he can admit that he cares for her, Ren. That's not going to hurt him."

"It might. He's trying to move on from her." Ren saw the fast-food hamburger restaurant and held the door open for Chris when they reached it. "As much as all of us were in support of it, it was unrealistic with him still alive. And if he's dead, I think that she would've tried to call Nick at the very least," he continued in a quieter tone. He walked in after her, and they headed to the front to order. There were a couple of people in front of them.

"We deal with the unrealistic every day, though. And, Nick's the most qualified," she pointed out as they moved up in the line and lowered her voice too.

"He is, but he also understands the risks the most. Sure, he's told us again and again the danger of him, but I don't think that we'll ever fully comprehend that ourselves unless we face him." Slightly, a shiver traveled up his spine. "And, I don't want that to happen. Nick doesn't either. He knows that he's only living because of incredible luck. He doesn't want to push that, and he doesn't want to endanger our lives either."

"I know all of that, but," she sighed and tightened her ponytail, "I want him to be happy too, and it seemed like she was happy with him also." She placed her hands back into her pockets. "Part of me just wishes that we could return to that time in Faller's Grove."

"I think that all of us would like that to happen, but that's not the case anymore. We're still alive, however, and based on what she was telling us as well as Nick, she's probably still alive too. And, there's a chance for them to see each other again even if it's slim." Ren pulled his wallet out of his green coat. "Nick's holding onto that, and he's trying not to worry us at the same time."

"Well, he's failing at the second part." She crossed her arms and glanced up to her partner. "If he didn't want us to worry, he'd just admit that he enjoys her company and wants her back."

A sweat-drop formed on Ren, and he shook his head. "Again, he's trying to move on for now, Chris. We can't force him to open up, and I don't want to. It'd be like him asking us why we don't like certain nicknames for us." Slightly, she relaxed, and he ruffled her hair a bit, much to her irritation. She swatted his hands away, and a light chuckle escaped from him. "Besides, I think that part of you wants him to admit that so that you can tease him again," he joked, quirking an accusatory brow.

"Pssh," she waved her right hand dismissively. "You're looking into it too much." Briefly, she closed her eyes before she opened her right one. "And, you want the same thing."

By a little bit, he smirked and shrugged his shoulders. His attention, though, switched to the front counter as the clerk asked them what they wanted. "Two waffle breakfast sandwiches, two breakfast burritos, an apple and blueberry pie and four coffees."

After he repeated the order to confirm, the clerk mentioned, "That'll be twenty-five dollars and fifty cents." Ren pulled out the money and exact change, passing it over to the man, who quickly put it into the register. A work smile greeted the man's lips. "We'll have that ready for you soon." He printed out the receipt and handed it to the two investigators. "Your number is nineteen."

"Right, thanks," Ren answered before he turned away and headed over to the bench by the door of the establishment. He took his seat after Chris and leaned back into the bench. "Anyway, have you talked to Deidre about all of this? She might have an answer for you that you like more." His optics diverted over to her slightly.

Leaning her head back on the bench, she sighed in frustration. "No. You know that I didn't. Despite her being younger than me, she seems like she's ten times more mature, but she's also more frightened by him, which is probably better. Out of the three of us, she's probably taken Nick's warnings about him the most to heart." She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "And, I just sometimes don't know how to talk to her about that kind of subject. I feel like she'd just say that we need to give Nick his space." Chris met his gaze. "You know, something you would say, but it would be more serious."

"Or, you could give her a chance. She's very calming to talk to at the same time." He smiled a bit. "She's like the therapist of the group despite her own fear, and that's why she might have a better idea on how to approach Nick's behavior with (f/n)."

Humming a bit in response, Chris leaned slightly closer to him. "Have you been telling her all of your secrets?" Her arms were crossed, and a pout formed on her lips.

Laughing lightly, he patted her on the head. "No." He leaned in closer to her. "That's for you, remember?" Just a little bit, her cheeks heated up. Another laugh escaped him, and he leaned back to his original spot. "Even if she's the therapist, you still have to deal with all of my problems."

"You bet I do." Both of them looked to the other before they shared in a laugh. It ended when their order was called. A smile hit her lips. "It smells amazing already." She picked up the two bags while he grabbed the coffee along with some sugar and cream.

Ren pushed the door open and allowed her to exit the establishment before he let the door close and walked beside her soon after. "That's because of the blueberry pie. I take it that your nose went on high alert when it smelled it out." She gave a childish grin and winked.

"But blueberry pie aside," she started as he quirked a brow in mock surprise, and she rolled her eyes before she continued, "what do you think of this assignment? I wasn't thinking that Nick would ask all of us to join in on it. It seems pretty major even if the source is highly questionable."

"All sources are highly questionable in our field of work." She looked ready to retort, but he cut her off and added, "But, I know what you mean. It's not like we had multiple sources for this, and the man who wrote that blog post seemed a little out of it even for our line of work." Ren let the scent of the coffee waft up to his nose, and a pleased smile hit his lips, but the smile returned to a neutral expression shortly after. "Overall, though, I think that this is odd. Nick must've had a conversation with the man on his own time and trusted his account, and I suppose that it's a huge case because of the three missing people."

"I suppose that makes sense." She rolled her shoulders a bit and couldn't wait to get back inside from the cold weather. Luckily, it hadn't snowed too much in the area, but the ice on the sidewalks and streets did cause them to walk with caution. "And, we'll be examining the old road and subway entrance this late morning and afternoon before we put a watch on both tonight, so we'll know more by then."

"It sounds like all of us are going to enter the subway, though, if Nick deems it safe."

"Do you really think that a ghost is at work here, though? It must be pretty powerful if it can place people into a trance and whisk them off from all over this area."

"I don't know, but Nick probably thinks that it's something quite different from the norm. Otherwise, he wouldn't need all of our help." A worried expression took over his face. "But if he deems it too dangerous, we're going to be booking it out of here tomorrow, and with how much Nick's already been concentrating on the case, that could happen."

"You don't think ..."

"No," he answered firmly and shook his head. "Otherwise, Nick wouldn't have accepted that writer's offer. Besides, he can't put people into trances. He'd just knock them out and drag them, or he'd do something much worse."

"That's true. Then, this might also be a new discovery for us." Ren nodded in response to his partner's question. "But as you pointed out, it could be too risky, and this town will be in more trouble than it could imagine." A drawn out sigh came from her, but Ren gave her a small smile.

"We're going to do our best like we always have. And right now," he motioned to the hotel they were walking nearer to, "it's almost breakfast time." He winked to her. "So, you have that burrito and pie to dig into and enjoy." She smiled back and nodded before the both of them entered the building and headed up to their shared room with Nick and Deidre.