Ray rested his hands on the steering wheel without gripping it, and when his voice came, it was calm in the way storms sometimes were right before landfall. "Elle and I were together for a long time," he said.
Rosa watched him closely.
"We lived together and bought a house in Virginia," Ray continued, "signed papers, picked paint colors, argued about furniture as it mattered more than anything else in the world."
Amy's eyes widened, and Gina stopped leaning back, sitting up straighter as the weight of it settled in.
"We were engaged," Ray said with a sigh. "I bought the ring, and she chose her wedding dress. We also set a wedding date and made our guest list."
Gina swallowed. "Okay. That is serious serious."
Ray nodded once. "Then the case happened."
Silence pressed in again, heavier this time.
"The BAU was hunting a ritualistic serial killer," Ray said, his tone unchanged even as something underneath it shifted. "I started noticing inconsistencies in the pattern because the profile did not fit the escalation rate and the timing was off."
Amy leaned forward, instinctively analytical. "Meaning?"
"Meaning he was not hunting for symbolism," Ray said, "he was hunting for leverage."
Rosa's fingers curled against her thigh.
"My sister Alicia went missing during the third week of the investigation," Ray continued. "Everyone assumed it was a coincidence, but I had this uneasy feeling... I knew that bastard took her. I brought my concerns to the team and laid out the logic... Location overlap, time windows, access to personal data we thought was random."
"And they ignored you," Rosa said quietly.
"They dismissed it," Ray corrected. "The profile was already set, and changing course would have meant admitting uncertainty, something Gideon especially did not want to do."
Amy's face drained of color.
"I tried to go around them," Ray went on. "I pulled resources, made calls, and broke protocol."
Gina frowned. "Let me guess. They did not love that."
"They detained me," Ray said. "Locked me in a holding cell under the pretense of emotional compromise and told me I was too close to the case. By the time I got out and found her, he had already killed her and escaped."
There was a moment of silence.
He continued. "I begged her to let me go, but she chose her duty and turned her back. I realized she never trusted me the way I trusted her. No one at the BAU trusted me because I was a newbie and their egos were too big to see the real truth. I ended things with Elle that night and left BAU. I could not stay in a place that chose theory over a human life. I could not stay with someone who watched it happen and accepted it as procedure."
Rosa placed her hand over his and gave a little squeeze.
Ray gave a painful smile. "After that, I put myself on the frontlines and did six missions in one month. I burned myself out and I was so lost. Every time I thought this is it, death just wisped past me. A lot happened over the year... Then, I was chasing Ivan Preston and came to Brooklyn... The rest you all know. I retired after that case and decided to stay at Nine Nine. And please don't say 'I'm sorry,' and things like that."
Amy exhaled, shoulders slumping. "Thank you for telling us."
Gina pointed a finger at him. "Just so we are clear. If Elle tries anything sketchy, I will emotionally destroy her."
Ray almost smiled.
Rosa leaned over and pressed her forehead briefly to his shoulder. "You know Elle still loves you?"
"I figured that much. But what I felt for Elle belonged to the man I was before that night. That man does not exist anymore," He replied.
Rosa nodded slowly. "Okay."
Ray started the car and drove toward his house.
...
A Few Days Later
[Nine-Nine] [Side room]
Rosa sat at the table with a thick file open in front of her, flipping pages with methodical disinterest. Terry stood a few steps away, phone pressed to his ear, nodding seriously while murmuring reassurances to someone very small and very emotional.
"Yes. Yes, Daddy sees it. That is a very brave haircut," Terry said softly. "No, the blue lollipop is not a reward. It is a responsibility."
Rosa did not look up. She slid a photo from the file, studied it, then tucked it back with a quiet huff.
The door opened.
Captain Holt entered, hands clasped behind his back, expression already sharpened for disappointment.
"Detective Diaz, can you even give me a shred of good news about your drug task force?" Holt asked.
Rosa flipped the file closed and finally looked up. "The good news is I can be brief about it. We have nothing."
Terry pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call with a resigned sigh. "Sorry. I had to take that. My twins are getting their hair done. There are some promises involving lollipops. I do not intend to keep."
Holt's mouth tightened.
Rosa leaned back slightly. "The task force has made some busts, but we haven't yet found any major dealer or high-level drug stashes."
Terry lifted both hands, palms up, optimism forced but sincere. "We'll soon."
Holt turned his head slowly toward Terry and gave him his usual deadpan look. "Is that a promise or just another lollipop no one's ever going to lick? Wuntch is waiting for this task force to fail. I need tangible result."
The room went quiet as Holt turned to Rosa.
Rosa said, "Sarge and I are going undercover at Electric Library. It's a silent disco. Everyone wears headphones. It's actually very respectful to the neighbours except for the lewd acts and vomiting."
Terry chimes in. "There's usually some ecstasy at these things." He nodded. "So, hopefully we'll find some giggle pigs."
Holt looked at Terry and nodded. "Great. I hope there is a lot of drug activity there."
Rosa and Terry exchanged a glance at Holt's words as Holt realized what he had just said. So, he tried to salvage the situation.
"Of course, ideally there will be nobody taking drugs there or anywhere else in the district, but if drugs must be found, let it be there." Holt closed his eyes and prayed. "Please god, let it be there."
...
[Meanwhile] [Ridgewood]
Ray slowed the patrol car as a man stepped out of a brick apartment building across the street. Elle's gaze followed his. Her posture shifted instantly. "That's Tito Ruiz."
Tito Ruiz is a drug dealer. BAU came across his file a couple of times, but they didn't want to waste their resources on some low-level dealer. And now, he has become one of the major dealers in the city.
Ray nodded. Tito looked thinner than his file photo, but his face was still the same.
Tito unlocked a gray sedan, glanced once up and down the street, then slid into the driver's seat and drove away.
Ray let three cars pass before pulling out.
They followed at a distance. Traffic did the work for them, bunching and stretching as lights changed. Tito drove like someone with nowhere urgent to be, drifting between lanes, tapping the brakes without reason.
Elle ran the plate and muttered, "Still clean."
The sedan turned toward downtown, away from the busier blocks and into quieter streets where storefronts gave way to fenced lots and converted warehouses. Ray eased off the accelerator as Tito slowed near a private drive marked with a faded NO TRESPASSING sign.
The sedan slipped through the gate without stopping.
Ray did not.
He drove past the entrance, eyes flicking to the side mirror. He saw the parked delivery vans on the side of the road.
Elle shook her head. "Private property. No probable cause. We can't touch him."
"Nothing we can do about that, even though we know that fucker is dirty, can we now? Rules and regulations," Ray said with a mock smile.
...
[That Night]
While Rosa and Terry were undercover at the disco...
[Downtown] [Ruiz's Building]
The freight elevator shook as it went down, and its cables made a loud noise. The lab floor was busy with activity. Workers checked tables, crates, burners, and rows of glowing glassware under bright lights. The air was filled with chemical heat, stale sweat, and metal. The masked guards were all over the place, armed to the teeth.
Tito Ruiz paced between stations, irritation etched deep into his face. "I want the next shipment clean," he snapped. "No screwups. That bitch Diaz has already fucked us up with the first shipment bust. This time, we can't be sloppy. If that bitch cop tries to act smart, put some bullets in her... Wait! Even better, bomb her bike. Hahaha."
One of the guards nodded too fast.
A few minutes later...
The lights cut out.
The hum of machines stopped. Fans turned off. The sudden quiet landed hard.
"What the hell?" Ruiz barked.
The backup generator wasn't responding.
Guns came up immediately. Flashlights snapped on, beams slicing through the dark in sharp, jittery arcs. Shadows stretched and warped across the walls, turning equipment into crooked silhouettes.
"Check the fuse box," Ruiz shouted. "Now."
A guard near the stairwell moved to check. His flashlight bobbed as he went.
Ruiz turned, breath quick, heart thudding. His fingers brushed the gun at his waist. He took one step toward the central table.
Pain exploded in his throat.
His eyes went wide. A wet sound tore out of him as air refused to move the way it should. Someone stood in front of him where no one had been a second earlier. It was too dark to see his face.
The blade slid out of his neck in a hot, tearing pull.
Ruiz staggered back, one hand clamping to his throat, blood pouring between his fingers. The knife went straight for his stomach, and with one slice was enough to open it. He quickly grabbed his stomach.
The shadow moved forward and whispered in his ears. "I came here for surveillance. But you wanna kill my woman? Motherfucker, I would've broken every single bone in your body. But sadly, I don't have time. So, bye-bye."
The lights turned back on.
Fluorescence flooded the room as everyone squinted their eyes for a moment.
Blood sprayed across the floor and the table legs. Ruiz collapsed forward, choking, eyes glassy with disbelief. His body hit the concrete with a heavy thud. Red pooled beneath him, thick and spreading. His insides followed, spilling where they did not belong.
It was a gory mess.
...
[Back at the disco]
Rosa received a call from one of her informers that she put behind Ruiz. She informed Rosa that something big was going on at Ruiz's building downtown and he saw multiple suspects with guns and drugs. They seem to be moving the stash somewhere else.
She cut the call and looked toward Terry.
"Sarge, we got a hit. Downtown, let's go," Rosa said as she took off her headphones and ran toward the exit.
"Finally," Terry followed her.
---
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