A/n: Just a short little thingy-thing. Jake x MC. Nothing special. After posting about it days earlier I wanted to address the topic... well, in a drabble lol.
-> There is a part two now. Yes.
Jake had been back for three days now. Three days in which he had been staring at the new file on his laptop without opening it.
He hadn’t allowed himself to.
Moonvale.
Attached to it—logs, names, locations, fragments, messages. Secrets.
And MC.
Your name appeared too often to be ignored.
Maybe he should have ignored it. Focused on everything else that required his attention. There was enough. More than enough.
But at 02:13, in the dark of a rented hotel room, the screen the only source of light, restraint became inefficient.
He opened the file.
His jaw tightened as unfamiliar names populated the screen. Profiles. Connections. Movement patterns. All organized. Clean. Efficient.
Ordered alphabetically by NYMOS.
His eyes moved faster.
Cross-references. Message logs. Calls. Already a lot of them.
And pinned at the top of the folder, two missing persons: Adam Dover. Sophia Holland.
He stilled, eyes moving a bit slower as he read the information. Both disappeared on the same night. Both in... the woods of Redlog Pines.
He exhaled, measured, controlled, while patterns were getting clearer in his mind.
Your name surfaced again. Threaded through conversations. Attached to timestamps that stretched deep into the night. Too late to be healthy for your sleep schedule.
He leaned back slightly, his eyes narrowing when he shortly looked away from the screen out the window into the dark night.
The realization came fast, uncomplicated. Unpleasant.
You were doing it again. Investigating. Barely a gap between this one and Duskwood. And once again... no hesitation from you.
But this time... no him.
He became aware of the pressure in his jaw only when the metallic taste registered on his tongue from where his teeth had dug into his cheek. But he didn’t loosen it.
The pain brought him back from his thoughts, his eyes snapping back to the screen, the cursor flickering.
He scrolled back to the top. Read everything again. Faster this time. As if his mind had decided there was no time to waste. As if his mind was trying to distract him from a spiral of worry.
But it only made everything clearer. Realer.
You were repeating it. Different names. Different place. But the same structure.
And the same risks...
His gaze shifted back to your name, highlighted in the system as if it belonged there. As if it had always belonged there.
His fingers moved before the thought fully formed. The secured channel he had opened three days ago when he came back. When he finally reached out again.
For a moment, the cursor blinked in an empty input field.
But he did not fill it yet. Didn't type the words in his mind.
Instead, he pulled up another log. Ran a quick trace on one of the numbers linked to you.
Eric.
Barely secured account.
Amateur.
His expression darkened, almost imperceptibly, the more he read.
A girl named Ash you already befriended. Just like you did with Jessy without even doing anything. A guy named Charlie. Too personal. Too... aligned. Too... open with all of them. Worrying for each of them.
And the most bitter realization so far—
You trusted them.
He leaned back in his chair, this time fully. His screen showing your story: “Who knows what happened at the Greenside Motel?”
Your beautiful face looking right at him from your profile pictures.
He stared right back as his chest began to tighten up. Second by second. His thoughts started to race. Worry, hurt, jealousy mixing together into a complicated mix that took over his rational thoughts.
summary: the one where barbara thinks about an act of rebellion.
pairing: jake x mc
word count: 1.3K
warnings: tkolnd takes place after the events of episode 10; cover images found on pinterest; english is not my first language.
author’s note: even though she lives in the usa, my main character, barbara, is brazilian. i added terms and expressions that we use in our country, as well as cultural elements, to this fanfic. the words that appear in portuguese are highlighted and you can contact me if you have any questions.
masterlist
Barbara was sprawled out on the dorm carpet, reading a Lucy Maud Montgomery novel she found by chance in the university library, when her cell phone began vibrating on the nightstand. Without wasting time, she closed the book and got up, waiting to hear from her roommate, Meera, but, when Barbara swiped her finger across the lock screen, she found some text messages from an unknown number.
i would like to invite you again to eat something at that chinese restaurant
if you want to meet me, just show up there tomorrow
i'll be waiting for you :)
Her head started to throb just at the possibility of it being who she was imagining, but she quickly pushed the thought away.
Jake wouldn't put himself in danger like that.
After everything that happened in Grimrock, Duskwood's chief of police, Alan Bloomgate, personally went after her to conduct the interrogation, and, more than once, made it very clear that it was best for her to stay away from her new friends for a while. He didn't go into detail when he told her about what happened at the Ironsplinter Mine, but he confirmed that Richy was alive — despite having some serious injuries — and that Jake had fled from the FBI agents during the confusion caused by the explosion.
All the messages she sent and received during that time became evidence. Barbara had what it took to close Hannah Donfort's case literally in the palm of her hand, including the kidnapper's confession.
Consequently, she also had the means that could lead the people who were after Jake straight to him.
She was interrogated by the FBI countless times for months, until Alan decided to intervene and convinced her to hand over her cell phone to them in exchange for her old life. Since then, Barbara has not been part of the joint investigation. Or at least that's what they say — she's too smart to really believe that.
For a few seconds, she considered the chance that it was someone trying to play a trick on her. The video Lilly Donfort posted accusing her of kidnapping had gone viral across the Columbia University campus. Even her grandmother, who lived in the interior of Brazil, found out about her involvement with a hacker wanted by the North American government. However, no one else knew about the brief conversation they had about the chinese restaurant.
Except, of course, the FBI.
Without a doubt, it was a trap. Barbara felt her face turn red. It seemed that solving an old international murder case, giving up her privacy, being forced to abandon her group of friends and possibly cheating on the guy she was in love with was not enough. She also needed to act as bait when it was convenient.
Barbara huffed, irritated. Little did they know that Jake had no contact. Their partnership in crime had ended almost a year ago.
Still, there was no reason to decline the invitation. She could very well take advantage of the opportunity to tell some truths to those nosy agents, and as a bonus she would have an excuse to go to Germany without Alan being able to question her too openly.
Her lips lifted into a smile as the plan emerged in her mind.
After going through customs at Zurich Airport, picking up luggage and going to an exchange office to exchange some notes, only an hour and fifteen minutes by car separated Barbara from Duskwood. Luckily, there were several yellow taxis forming a line next to the sidewalk, because it would be a nightmare to have to deal with someone trying to compete for the same vehicle as her.
She walked out of the lounge, pulling her hot pink rolling suitcase, and turned on her smartphone to announce on the family's group chat that she had arrived safely. But before she could check her contact list to see if her parents were online, she collided with a young man's broad chest.
She jumped away from him, apologizing — or at least trying to — in german. He laughed softly, grabbing her arm to stop her from tripping over herself, and for a moment, Barbara forgot to even breathe. The young man seemed to be a few years older than her, he was tall, had dark hair and prominent round eyes that resembled the curve of a teardrop, he was wearing a white sweatshirt with a hood and black jeans.
“I'm sorry, I didn't see you.” He spoke in english, with a slight accent.
“No problem, it was my fault.” Barbara quickly straightened up, realizing that she had somehow stared too long.
The young man analyzed her from head to toe with amusement before bending down and picking up the cell phone that had flown out of her hand during the impact.
“I believe this is yours.” He joked, handing the device to her.
“Thank you.”
He nodded curtly and turned, making his way through the travelers entering and exiting the airport, as silent as a wraith.
She was inexplicably disappointed to see him leave, however she had more important things to deal with. Then, she handed the luggage to the driver to put in the trunk and got into the taxi, giving the address of the Gates Hotel, on the outskirts of Duskwood.
Barbara ran across the room, feeling the cold floor beneath her feet. She was considerably late, but as far as she remembered, she had never arrived on time to participate in the interrogations, so whoever was waiting for her at the restaurant wouldn't mind too much. She put on a black strapless dress, put on her highest heels and curled her wet hair with her fingers, leaving a small trail of water on the floor.
Through an opening in the peach curtains, she noticed that the rain had picked up outside, beating violently against the window pane. She cursed under her breath, hoping someone at the front desk could lend her an umbrella, and before Barbara could procrastinate her meeting with the FBI Special Agent any further, she took one last look at the floor mirror near the entrance hall, realizing that she was dressed for revenge.
“Someone would definitely approve of that.”
Smiling to herself, she went down a small flight of stairs to the ground floor, where the girl at the reception was reading a magazine with Nicholas Galitzine's photo on the cover.
“How can I help you?” She asked in english, without taking her eyes off the celebrity gossip.
“Hey, how you doin'? Could you lend me an umbrella, please?”
“Of course.” She said, reaching for the object under the counter and handing it to her. “A fee of two euros will be added to your room bill.” Barbara sighed, surprised, as she mentally converted the currency. “What?” The receptionist looked up, frowning. “Did you think it would be free?”
“No, obviously not.” Barbara lied, smiling politely.
“Return it by midnight or I will have to charge the full value of the item.” The girl announced, turning her attention to the magazine. Then she added: “Nice dress.”
“Okay, I'll pay when I check out.” She assured, walking towards the glass doors while opening her rented umbrella. “And thank you.”
“Have fun, Cinderella!”
Barbara regretted walking out the door as soon as she set foot on the sidewalk. Not just because of the rain, but because of the wind blowing your hair back. In any case, she had come too far to give up, and despite the storm, she could see the lights of the chinese restaurant through the blue haze a few meters ahead, on the other side of the street.
Before she could take another step, someone grabbed her arm and turned her around.
“What?” She blinked in amazement at the handsome young man she had met at the airport.
“Come with me.” He said, pulling her away from the hotel entrance.
“You are crazy? I do not know you!” Barbara shouted, dropping the umbrella near her feet. The rain completely drenched them both in moments. “Me solta!”
I don't remember why I didn't post this then but hey! Better late than never... right?
Anyway, I finished med school (yei) and now that I'm replaying Moonvale for the fifth time I rememberd that I own you guys the last conversation with our baby hackerboy. I feel like I'm cheating but Eric is winning my heart ngl. Also, stay tuned (please...?) for more Moonvale highlights.
Hope you like it after all this years. Happy 2026, everyone. ;)
