Line of SightĀ // Agent Ben Poindexter x FemaleĀ ocĀ
dark, obsessive devotion/unhealthy obsession, slow burn, sexual tension, morally gray romance, hurt-comfort, stalker fantasy, secret identities, lowkeyĀ domĀ femaleĀ oc, submissiveĀ dex, privacy violation, emotional dependency, action violence (mentions of blood), smut-gentle sex, masturbation, teasing, oral (f receives), arousal towards violence - some still upcoming, mentions of suicide (only in specific chapters which will have warnings before), psychological trauma/ptsd, guilt, original female character //Ā lmkĀ if I forgot anything !!Ā
*long ah chapter but one of my favs !! enjoy :)
Chapter 17 āĀ The Shot She Didn't Take
Dex almost missed the turn.
Not because he wasn't paying attention.
Because he was thinking about her.
The city blurred past outside the windshield while the anonymous burner phone sat in the passenger seat beside him, dark and silent now that its purpose had been served.
For weeks now the messages had arrived without explanation.
Dex should have been asking questions.
How did they know what he could do?
Instead, his thoughts kept drifting somewhere else entirely. To last night.
Coffee growing cold on the table.
Sam sitting on his couch.
Looking through case files.
Looking through his apartment.
His grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
Inside the carefully controlled world he'd spent years keeping empty.
And somehow she hadn't looked disgusted.
Even after he never visited.
The memory made guilt twist beneath his ribs.
And somehow still willing to trust him.
"I think you're the only person who can help me find him."
The words hadn't left his head since.
She had sat across from Bullseye asking for help finding Bullseye.
A humorless laugh escaped him.
If she ever learned the truth...
He shoved the thought away immediately.
The warehouse appeared ahead.
Five stories of rusted steel and broken windows sitting along the edge of the river.
Dex pulled into a side alley and killed the engine.
Then reached into the backseat.
Rain tapped softly against the windshield while she sat in an unmarked sedan parked two blocks from the warehouse.
Beside her Ethan looked entirely too comfortable.
"You know," Ethan said casually, "most people use evenings for normal things."
Sam didn't look away from the binoculars.
"Most people aren't hunting serial killers."
"Legally very different."
"You don't even know what I was going to ask."
"I know exactly what you were going to ask."
"You visited Poindexter."
Sam lowered the binoculars.
His expression remained frustratingly neutral.
"He was involved in the hotel incident."
"He was involved in the banquet."
"I'm just saying he's seems like a strange guy."
"You've never even met him."
"Well ya but the way people describe him there's gotta be something wrong with the guy."
"That's ridiculously out of touch Ethan."
"You're missing the point."
"No, I think I'm getting the point."
Something sharp slipped into his voice.
"Everyone else in the bureau thinks he's unstable."
Toward literally anything else.
"Everyone else doesn't know him."
The second the words left her mouth she regretted them.
Because Ethan noticed immediately.
"I absolutely did not say that."
"Because you're being unfair."
"You visited him off the clock."
"Just be honest, did you fuck him?"
Ethan smirked in a teasing way. Sam hated that.
"No Ethan I did not. I forgot how irritating you are."
"That's usually how people remember me."
Saving him from the glare she was preparing.
Both agents immediately focused.
Business replacing conversation.
Several vehicles approaching the warehouse.
Exactly what they'd been waiting for.
The upper deck of the warehouse provided a perfect vantage point.
Dark enough to stay invisible.
High enough to see everything.
Dex crouched against rusted metal beams watching the operation unfold below.
Enough illegal merchandise to fill multiple federal indictments.
None of them knew they were already dead.
His knife rested between his fingers.
The operation should've remained surveillance only.
Then a scream echoed from inside the warehouse.
Ethan was already reaching for the door handle.
"That wasn't part of a shipment."
The second scream came louder.
Sam followed immediately.
Because she really had no choice.
The first body hit concrete seconds before Sam entered.
A man collapsed from an upper railing.
Shouting erupted everywhere.
Nobody understood what was happening.
He moved through shadows above them.
A wrench flew from darkness.
Cracked against someone's skull.
Anything became a weapon in his hands.
The criminals began firing wildly.
Bullets tearing through darkness.
Then a voice pulled his attention.
His entire body locked up.
The voice echoed through the warehouse floor.
Dex reached the edge of the stairs and looked down.
And immediately felt his stomach drop.
Inside the middle of an active firefight.
And running directly into it.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
She wasn't supposed to be here.
Sam saw Bullseye for the first time near the second-floor staircase.
And immediately charged forward.
Saw everything falling apart.
Except twenty armed criminals still stood between him and the nearest exit.
A shotgun blast exploded nearby.
A metal nut flew from his fingers.
Another attacker appeared.
Every second spent fighting increased the chance Sam got hurt.
And that terrified him far more than the bullets.
The warehouse became a maze.
Ethan followed Bullseye up a stairwell.
Ethan appeared directly ahead.
For one brief second all three of them froze.
But Dex still felt exposed.
Like somehow she could see straight through it.
A rusted lock sat on a nearby shelf.
Dex grabbed it instantly.
The lock struck Ethan's knee with a sickening crack.
Ethan collapsed instantly.
Pain exploding across his face.
Shock flashing across her features.
Because the throw should've hit her too.
She had been directly in front of him.
Bullseye had curved the shot around her.
The realization lingered for half a second.
Then vanished beneath adrenaline.
Sam dropped beside Ethan calling backup.
Dex was already moving again.
Sam left Ethan and continued the pursuit alone.
Bullseye reached the rooftop first.
The city stretched endlessly beyond him.
Rain blowing across rusted metal.
And looked directly at her.
The distance between them suddenly felt enormous.
Her breathing sounded loud.
Like he already knew how this ended.
There she was, pointing a gun towards him with every opportunity to kill. The sight filled him with sadness. With pain.
Why did it have to be this way?
After last night was so perfect?
Hiding everything except his eyes.
And in his eyes Sam could see almost pain. Sadness.
Why was this vigilante killer looking at her this way?
So why wasn't she pulling the trigger?
The hesitation didn't last long.
And that bothered her immediately.
Because she didn't hesitate.
Bullseye shifted slightly.
Almost like he'd noticed.
Almost like he understood.
Then he stepped backward.
The movement snapped her out of it.
Not where she'd intended to aim.
But where she wanted it to go.
Bullseye jerked violently.
One hand immediately pressing against his lower abdomen.
For half a second she thought he'd fall.
Instead he grabbed the fire escape railing.
Backup flooded the rooftop seconds later.
Sam lowered her weapon slowly.
Rain continuing to fall around her.
And she couldn't stop thinking about one thing.
Because she had a clear shot.
Somewhere in the darkness.
Bullseye pressed a hand against the bleeding wound in his side and kept moving.
he couldn't help but smile.