Fichain #4: [Start date 18 July 2023] - Page 20

This is a banger!!! Confession ho gaya 😆 cute.

Doing next ❤️

Handler...The one who gave you the note?"

Which note? Ye kounse segment ki baat hai? 😆

Originally posted by: Satrangi_Curls

This is a banger!!! Confession ho gaya 😆 cute.

Doing next ❤️

Can you check the summary and characters on page 1, incase I missed anything

Cool, i'mma check. Who said that beer wali last line in your segue?

Originally posted by: Satrangi_Curls

Cool, i'mma check. Who said that beer wali last line in your segue?

Ishaan said the beer thing

Segment 3:

He opened it. It was from his handler. 'A STICK IS GOING TO BE POKED INTO YOU.' His handler was a cartoon in himself but the sentences were random enough.

Segment #32

"Beer? No thanks. You may have whatever you want." Darshan smiled.

"What if I don't know what I want?" Ishan questioned.

Darshan pinned Ishaan to the wall. "I'm not sure how to say this but I have, for the first time in my life, actually and really wanted someone. Not just someone, you. I want you in my life. Forever, if it is a thing."

Ishaan looked into his sincere eyes. He was too close. It's love, maybe. The feelings he had had for so long were now into words. He liked Darshan and he'd just been proposed to, or maybe not. He wanted to scream back that I like you too, but the words never left his mouth. He stood there, stupefied.

Darshan took a step back and then another and walked into the washroom. He took a cold shower and came back to Ishaan. He turned around to see Ishan sitting by the bar counter, pouring himself a drink. 

Darshan took the seat beside him. "About whatever I said earlier, there is no pressure on you to have the same feelings or reciprocate anything. The weight of these feelings had been crushing me inside and I finally found the courage to express them. You don't have to."

"Yeah, about that. I am not in the right mind to process stuff. Maybe give me a bit of space." Ishaan said, fiddling with the bottle's cap.

"Sure, I am here for you." Darshan placed his hand on Ishaan's. He nodded and drowned a shot. "Since you have been sober for a year now, am I bothering you with drinking in front of you?"

"No, I just don't feel the temptation anymore."

"Interesting! Tell me what tempts the beast?"

"You are still hung up on that?"

"Tell me, why did Kabir call you the beast?"

"It's more of a show don't tell thing." Darshan blushed and bit his lip.

Ishan looked at him. "I think I get it now. I am such an idiot." 

"No, you're not."

___

Next afternoon.

"I went through all of Aarav's videos and photos and I think we have something that might prove his innocence," Ishan said, showing some photographs on the laptop screen. Darshan looked at it carefully. "The image is a bit blurry but I think we can see Simba and Aarav signing some papers. Forensic analysis on the ink will show the approximate date of the papers being signed." 

"One part of the job is done."

"Yeah, I think so."

"Maybe we could focus on finding Simba now. I haven't heard anything about him from any sources. If he has been laying low, it may be some days or even months for him to resurface." Darshan checked his messages.

"I don't know what to do about this. Maybe I will talk to someone and figure out my next plan of action. I might be late coming home tonight so have you dinner, don't wait for me." Ishaan put the laptop aside.

"If you need anything I just call away. Darshan smiled.

___

Handler ko aap handle karo 😆

Ishaan didn't confess cuz he's been an emotional wreck after Gaurav n Trisha's death and hasn't been able to process the grief yet. He hasn't had the time or chance to do so. 

Noetic, I know you are busy, but you wanna take up next one?😅

Segment #33

Ishaan had been knocking on the door for about five minutes now. He then sighed and knocked on the neighbor's door.

"Hi, I am looking for Raunak Menon, your next door neighbour?"

"Oh, I haven't seen him since a while now. The last time I saw him was when he had two visitors and then after that, I didn't see him at all." The old woman shrugged.

Ishaan's heartbeat rose as fear gripped him. He dug through his bag and pulled out the keys he had. The house was a mess, Raunak had gotten into a fight. He tiptoed around the room and the scratch marks on the furniture were a tell-tell sign of struggle.  He knew he was late. He was very late.

When he got back to the house, Darshan almost winced. He was as pale as a ghost.  Darshan opened his mouth to talk to him but Ishaan walked past him. He then pled out the last note from Raunak.

 'A STICK IS GOING TO BE POKED INTO YOU.'  He burnt it and a loud scream escaped him. He then pulled out the calender and read the date Raunak had circled, the Gaurav was killed.

"I know how they found out about me," Ishaan said to Darshan who was reading a novel in Manohar's library.

"Raunak. My handler. They kidnapped him, possibly even killed him, else I would have gotten a message by now. He was kidnapped the day Gaurav died, so they must have tortured it out of him."

"Ishaan, I am so sorry." Darshan stand and stood up to look at the shorter man. He extended his hands to hit him but didn't.  

Ishaan looked in his eyes and hugged him.

"Will this ever end?" He asked.

"I don't know, but Manohar's lawyers had called me, they will exploit our ink theory to get Aarav out of the mess, so I think we should stop." Darshan answered, sadly.

The two sat in silence for a long time.

"I am sorry, your first big case was such a mess." Ishaan said, twiddling his fingers.

Darshan laughed. Ishaan smiled weakly.

"I wish I had just stuck to cheating husbands, at least the end of such cases was rewarding. The wives would either beat or curse their husbands, which I loved, or take them to court, which was still fun, me do nothing about it,  which was sad,"

Ishaan nodded. His burner phone pinged and he looked at Darshan in confusion.

"It's your Kabir."

"My Kabir?" Darshan asked and Ishaan looked at him.

"My ex Kabir?" Darshan corrected him.

Ishaan read through the message.

"They found Bissa."

"What? Where?"

"In the ocean. He was poisoned. They found another body."

"Who is it?" Darshan asked but Ishaan didn't answer. He just fell to the ground. 

"I am sorry to inform you that they was another body on the island. It was Raunak Menon's. The preliminary reports of autopsy suggest that he must have been killed about a week now."

I think Ishaan has seen so much death in these two weeks🤧

Originally posted by: oh_nakhrewaali

Noetic, I know you are busy, but you wanna take up next one?😅

I have honestly been extremely busy. I have some events in my college coming up that I have to organize. I'll try to get some free time and let you know. Sorry.

Segment #34

Darshan sat beside Ishaan who was staring into nothingness. Darshan engulfed him in a bear hug. Few moments later, Ishaan broke down crying, sobbing like a child. Darshan stayed with him, gently patting his back as he cried his heart out. This was probably the first time Darshan saw someone cry like this, his eyes teared up too. 

Darshan put Ishaan to sleep, gently cuddling him. He heard him mumble in his sleep, he was probably having a nightmare. 

Darshan whispered, "It's okay you're safe. I am here." 

Next two days were uneventful, Ishaan was silent, barely eating. Darshan gave him space to recollect himself. Later that day, a message popped up on Ishaan's phone from Veda's number. Nadia and Ayesha have escaped the prison and we are on the lookout. You guys keep a low profile. I am not sure who they will be attacking next. Stay safe, I will keep you posted. 

Ishaan received Veda's message and called her. "How did both escape from the jail? Did you help them, Veda?"

"No. Why would I do that? I was paid to keep them in jail not to help them escape. But I have heard your boss paid one of my constables to let the girls run away. So, question him."

"My boss?"

"Manohar."

"He's not my boss. Also, why would he do that?"

"I don't know. You figure it out, it's not my case anymore." Veda disconnected the line. 

"Maybe Manohar thought the girls would lead us to Simba?" Darshan thought out aloud.

"How would they know where he is hiding?"

"What do you think, should we follow the girls?"

"You know what, I am out of this. I simply don't care who lives and who dies anymore."

"Ishaan?" Darshan furrowed his brows.

"What? I already lost all the people that I loved and cared about, there's no one else remaining."

"So, you don't want to avenge any of those innocent deaths?" 

"What is that going to do? Will it bring back my Trisha or Gaurav or Raunak sir? Anyone? No. None of them are coming back. What's the point of any of this? Just let me be. You can also leave. There is no future for us anyway."

"Ishaan, look at me." Darshan cupped his face. "You cannot lose hope like this. you took an oath to save the innocent and punish the evil doers. You cannot let go of the very things that make you, you."

"Me?" Ishaan chuckled sadly. "I am not me. I don't even recognise myself in the mirror. The person you met isn't me. Goodbye, detective. See you in another lifetime, maybe." His voice was emotionless.

"What are you talking about?" Darshan's heart sank with the dark possibilities Ishaan was implying. 

"I don't know." He shrugged and walked out of the house.

"What do you mean you don't know? Ishaan, answer me." Darshan ran after Ishaan, his heart beating faster.

___

♡⁠(⁠Ӧ⁠ｖ⁠Ӧ⁠｡⁠)

Thoda/kaafi traumatising ho gaya. :(