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Summary:

“How have you been?”

“We’re not doing this.” It was the same cold tone she had heard back in the briefing room. “We’re not friends, we’re not lovers, and you sure as hell aren’t my partner. This is nothing more than an order from the Captain that’s going to be followed because that's what required in this job.” He handed her a casefile. “I already told you in the briefing room that I don't need a partner and I do just fine on my own. Remember that.”

Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

[on hiatus.]

Notes:

look. it was only a matter of time before i wrote a cop au. i am a true crime junkie and this is probably the most useful thing my criminal justice degree is good for. let me live my life. anytime i write fanfiction i write a cop au. or i mostly write cop aus, i'll be honest with myself. and i am procrastinating HARD on finishing the church of serios route. that last level??? what a bitch to finish. it is the hardest level i've played by far and i am struggling.

real talk tho, this is obviously a modern au. are people somewhat out of character? you bet. is dimitri swearing? you fuckin bet he is. is he still that stupidly angry boy? damn right. is byleth gonna put up with his shit? hell no. does she love him anyways? ofc what kind of question is that. i have everything that i want to happen in this story all written out but i've only ever finished a a multi-chapter story once, like ten years ago. so here we go again. title subject to change, not sorry about it.

everyone is significantly older than they are in the game. so they would have been in the academy at the earliest 21, which is six months of training, then at least another five months of on the job training and wouldn't really be on their own until they were 22/23 at the youngest. so after all that jazz it's at least 3-5 years before you are considered to be a detective and they've all been detectives give or take two years so they're like 30/31. give or take. i understand it's a fictional world but look policing is my jam and i try to keep anything i do in a modern au as realistic as possible. ok sorry my notes are always like a novel lmaoo onward!

Chapter 1: eyes wide open

Chapter Text

“Okay. I got a really serious question for you.”

Dimitri sighed, making no moves to look up from his paperwork. Given the fact that Sylvain was hovering over his desk and he knew that Ingrid was watching from afar, the blonde knew exactly what was going to be asked. Instead of giving him a response, Dimitri typed away at his computer.

“Can you like, see? Like with the eyepatch and everything?”

“You’ve asked me this every month since I got back from medical leave. It’s been six months. What do you think the answer is?” Dimitri growled as he leaned back in his chair, finally taking a break from the paperwork. “I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t fucking see, Sylvain. You know that the Captain wouldn’t have approved that.” Dimitri pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm down his annoyance. “Ingrid, can you please, for fucks sake, tell your partner to fuck right off?”

A smirk appeared on Sylvain’s lip as Ingrid materialized from the background, an apologetic look on her face. “Come on, Dimitri, you know I’m just riling you up. Anyways, the real reason I came over is to tell you that everyone is needed in the briefing room. And by everyone, that means you. Even Cap said, and I quote, “Don’t let that sulky emo bastard hide away in the records room! He has to be here too!”

“Oh my God, he did not say that. Nobody said that but you,” Ingrid rolled her eyes as she pulled her partner back from Dimitri’s personal space. Despite what her partner liked to do, she knew there was no point in trying to antagonize Dimitri. It had been two years since he had lost his partner and every day, his personality darkened. The stab to his eye and loss of vision didn’t help with his misery.

Some time ago, Ingrid would have done something about it. In fact, she had for the better part of a year. She had tried constantly to bring Dimitri out of his shell, invite him to when they would go out for a drink after a long shift or a hard case, to make sure that he was always included no matter what. But after he had slammed the door in her face and had told her to fuck off for what felt like the thousandth time, she had given up.

Ingrid knew she wasn’t the only one. It was the new normal of the precinct.  

Sylvain shrugged as he walked away. Ingrid titled her head to the side. It was still weird adjusting to the eye patch that covered Dimitri’s eye.

“Captain did call everyone into the briefing room. Starts in five. He said bring your coffee, it’s going to be a long one.” With that, she turned on her heels and walked away from her former friend.

Dimitri scowled to no one in particular. There had been a time when he had enjoyed the emergency briefings. It had been a time for the precinct to get together, bullshit about whatever case they had been assigned to them and start the day off right. Now? Now it was just an annoyance and getting in the way of solving the cases that were piling up on his desk.

 Putting his badge around his neck, Dimitri stood up from his desk and looked around. There was something different in the atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be more on edge, which was usually indicative of another jurisdiction stepping in.

Just what I fucking need. More people, Dimitri thought to himself as he slipped into the briefing room, his coffee in hand, making a dash for the back corner. Nobody sat next to him back there anymore. He could sip his coffee and brood in peace. It also gave him the best vantage point for surveilling the room. Something was definitely off but he couldn’t put his finger on it just yet.  A stab in the dark would say that the feds were coming in but it didn’t have the same chaotic atmosphere that the feds brought. No, his superiors seemed rather calm which meant there was nobody to impress.

The conversation was the same run of the mill conversation they had every morning. The sergeant went over what had happened last night, what patrol wanted them to look out for, and anything else that would have been important to the start of the day shift. Ashe gave an overview of what was going on downstairs with patrol and Annette was talking about something to do with administrative filings, Dimitri didn’t know. When it came to patrol and admin talking, he started to tune out.

It wasn’t until the Captain stood up and took the center stage. This caught everyone’s attention; Captain Seteth had always been the one who sat back and watched and let everyone run the show. He only spoke up when something mattered and had a dramatic impact on their day to day operations.

“As you know, we’ve been trying to fill a detective spot for some time now.”

Dimitri’s heart ran cold as he gripped his coffee cup, almost crushing it in the process. The spot they had been trying to fill had been open for the better part of two years, left empty by his former partner. Nobody stayed longer than three months, all having to leave because of “Dimitri’s cold personality creates a hostile work environment and nobody wants to put up with that shit,” or something along those lines.

He hadn’t realized that there was someone standing to the left of Seteth, closer to the door. Foolish, he thought to himself. How could he be so careless not to recognize the unknown? The person, a woman, Dimitri realized, moved closer as Seteth continued to speak.

“She’s been with the department for about nine years, transferring from Enbarr. Captain von Hresvelg speaks highly of her.”

Another scowl appeared on Dimitri’s face. That was another name he never wanted to hear spoken out loud. Whatever Seteth had planned up his sleeves and whatever sense of trust he had in his captain disappeared instantly knowing where the transfer had come from. Edelgard couldn’t be trusted.

Looking up from up from his coffee cup, Dimitri felt the wind get knocked out of him as he stared at the female detective that was now next to Seteth. It was a face he hadn’t seen in about five years and it sent a shiver down his spine. There was no way that this was a possibility. Could it be the woman he had so desperately fallen in love with during the police academy, the one who became his closest confidant when they started their respective careers, and the one who had just disappeared from his life five years ago?

Yes. Yes it could be.

“I believe some of you already know her from the academy, if I’m not mistaken.”

 The coffee cup crushed under his grasp. He didn’t listen to what Seteth was saying; he already knew her name. At least four of them knew of her, Dimitri included. They had all wound up at the same academy. He could see Ingrid’s knowing look, Sylvain’s smirk and Felix’s face of indifference as Seteth introduced her.

A loud wolf whistle echoed the room, followed by the sound of Ingrid smacking Sylvain on the head with a stack of files.

“Glad to see you haven’t changed, Sylvain.”

Dimitri was frozen as he looked at Byleth. There she was, standing in front of him, still the same. Her tone was still no-nonsense and God, she hadn’t aged a day. She still looked just as beautiful as ever. Even after all this time, the feelings of love were still there. He hated that they were. He had spent so long pushing his feelings on her to side. It was an unhealthy coping mechanism, that’s what Mercedes had called it. Didn’t matter to Dimitri. Everyone around him knew he held onto anything that gave him a strong sense of emotion longer than he should have.

“Oh, I’ve changed in a lot of ways, babe. Care to join me over a glass of wine and I can show you?”

“We just had a training on sexual harassment, Gautier!” Seteh exclaimed, although if he was being honest with himself he wasn’t sure why he was surprised.

“Can you blame a guy for trying, Cap?”

“I can, actually. You and I both know that I’m a whiskey girl,” Byleth chimed in, her face emotionless, despite the slight teasing tone. Dimitri didn’t have to look at her to know that there was a small smile on her face, something that would be missed to everyone but him.

Seteth sighed. “As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, this is Detective Einser. She’ll be partnered with Detective Blaiddyd.”

The room went silent and dropped ten degrees as everyone slowly turned back to look at Dimitri.

“Nope. No thanks. Don’t need a partner. Don’t want a partner. I work just fine on my own.” His tone was cold and dismissive. It was the same song and dance every time a partner had been dropped at his desk. And there was no way in hell that he was going to let Byleth stay as long as the others had. He would have her packing her bags within weeks.

“It’s an order. You don’t have a choice, Blaiddyd.”

Fuck me.


Byleth was uncomfortable.

It took a lot for her to feel that way. She hadn’t felt much emotion before signing up to be a police officer, what with having a famous police captain as a father, and she didn’t feel much more after starting her career. But sitting in front of her was one of her closest friends.

Or well, was one of her closest friends. Byleth had burned that bridge a long time ago.

She shifted in her chair, unsure of what to do. Byleth had known that this day was coming since she got her transfer orders and had talked with Seteth. She had always known that it was a possibility, given her luck and how small the city was, but it didn’t make it any easier to process. Hadn’t Seteth read her file and had known exactly what had happened? Of course he had. Did he care? Guess not.

“How have you been?”

“We’re not doing this.” It was the same cold tone she had heard back in the briefing room. “We’re not friends, we’re not lovers, and you sure as hell aren’t my partner. This is nothing more than an order from the Captain that’s going to be followed because that’s what I do.” He handed her a casefile. “I already told you in the briefing room that I need a partner and I do just fine on my own. Remember that.”

“Then why did you give me a casefile?”

The question was a challenge. Do you still trust me or not? Byleth knew that the answer had to be no, she wouldn’t trust herself either, but his actions seemed to speak louder than his words.

Dimitri didn’t respond. Instead, he flipped through another casefile on his desk and pointedly ignored her. The no could not be any louder.

Maybe this was a bad idea after all.