How long?

How long what?

How long had he been engaged to his boyfriend? two years in a six months, twenty-three days and seventeen hours.

How long had he been seated at his desk, in his study, working on this case? Three months, and twenty-seven days. He was.. exhausted.. His captain was pushing him to declare it a cold case, no new leads.

How long had he planned his marriage to the same man he was chasing..? Five years, eleven months and twenty-one days.

He had expected anything but this. Anything, anyone, everything but this, this man, this person.. The one man who sparked a light in the dull life he had led, the one man who loved him through all his hard-ass days... anyone but the man in front of him, wearing the ring he proposed to them to, around their neck, mask covering everything but their eyes.. he'd know them everywhere, with a gun to a man's head, a child predator, Aaron recognised, a man who, a few days ago, went free after being let out of 48 hours in a cell. He remembers the smug way he looked at Aaron as he was freed.

Was he supposed to run? Run and ignore the bloody man in front of him, ignore the blood on his lover's hands, ignore the look in the man about to br shot is giving him, the pleading look for help, should he ignore the gunshot..? Or was he supposed to arrest the one man who gave him meaning and purpose, who he seen needy beneath him, the beautiful noises ripped from his throat as Aaron swallowed them?

How long had he been manipulated into thinking he loved this man? Not one day. Not an hour. Not a damn minute. He'd give his life for this man, if it meant he'd get to hold the other in his arms a second more.

So, he'll ignore what he sees. He'll let the case turn cold. He'll notify the loved ones of those who disappeared that they were no longer with them, dead.

"Never again... Promise me. I let this go cold, and you stop." He whispers one night, months after, cuddling with his lover on the couch, the movie forgotten in stead of each other's presence.