doublethepain | [closed: davin, dated for 5/16]

It's with a promise that he won't let anyone do any 'souping up' of the Jetta that Spencer manages to sneak a kiss to Joel's cheek before laughing his way out of Crossroads. His husband had balked at the idea that his car might need any sort of tuning he hasn't been able to do on his own in the years he's owned it, but Spencer had gently reminded him that Davin is the actual expert when it comes to cars so it's not as if their friend's offer to look it over could possibly hurt. Besides, it wouldn't do to find the car in need of some dire fix the day they're due to take the baby home, so to Oceanside he will go.

The car does, as Joel always says, run impressively smoothly for as old as it is, and Spencer arrives at the auto repair shop without so much as a squeaky window just before noon. He smiles through the windshield when Davin waves him into one of the carports, and he notes that there doesn't seem to be much activity going on for a Saturday afternoon as he steps out of the car with an awkward wave.

"Thank you again," he says, which possibly isn't best greeting he could have mustered up, but the words had been at the tip of his tongue all the same. He still hasn't been able to get past just how many people had shown up for the baby shower and left so many gifts. He knows that neither he nor Joel had expected such an extravagant outpouring of support at a party they'd been resistant to from the beginning but as it turns out, he'll be worrying about carpal tunnel very soon with all the thank you notes he'll be working on in the next few weeks preceding the baby's birth.

"Oh," he adds, rolling his eyes fondly, "my husband says the same and also that he doesn't want me to bring the car home with any fancy modification so if you could refrain from painting flames on the sides, it would be greatly appreciated."

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They came prepared. They knew what to expect out of Davin, they knew how to use him to get Spencer to comply with their wishes. Somehow they knew what Davin could do and they knew that Spencer would never let his friend be hurt if he could help it. It's someone who's been watching them, if nothing else. It makes Joel sick and furious all at once and he braces his hands against his knees and then looks up again and catches sight of something glinting on the floor of the garage.

He shouldn't go in there, he knows he shouldn't, but he gets up anyway and goes to it because he knows before he even gets close what it is.

Spencer's ring is on the floor of the garage. Dropped. Left behind. For him.

"He left his ring," he gasps, grabbing for it and he knows this is a crime scene, but he hasn't touched the car or the wrench or the blood. "This is Spencer's wedding ring, he hasn't taken it off since we got married, he left it for me to find. Something bad happened to them."

"Look, we don't know what happened---" James isn't sure whether he says that for himself or for Joel, but he can't just assume that Davin is hurt or kidnapped or worse. He can't do that. It already feels like the walls of the room are slowly closing in, where his chest hurts a little, like something has come and knocked the wind away. Just when he thought everything was okay again. Just when Davin came back and now he's gone.

He eyes the ring in Joel's hand. "If he was aware enough to leave the ring then that's a good sign," he says pulling out his phone. "I'm gonna call this in. I need. I don't know how much I can do alone." Probably not enough. He dials into the station reporting the crime scene and possibility of a kidnapping and asking for back-up. He doesn't tell the dispatcher that he has a personal connection to the victim, but he'll have to when they arrive.

"We'll find them," he assures Joel after he hangs up and gives him a pat on the arm, knowing that isn't going to help, because he feels like nothing is going to help until he sees Davin safe. "If Davin were in trouble with people, I feel like he would've told me. You really think someone wants to hurt your husband?"

Joel can hear that James is speaking to him and he knows he should be paying attention, but he's just staring down at the ring in his palm. The light glints off the edges softly and if he closes his eyes and concentrates he can imagine that it's still warm from being on Spencer's finger, but he knows that's just his imagination. It's been lying on the cold concrete of the garage for long enough that it can't possibly have retained any of his husband's warmth.

It is a sign, though, he's sure of that. He was meant to find it and he clutches the ring desperately in his palm when James pats his arm, then finally looks up at him. The question registers, though just barely, and he pauses, giving himself some time to think about it. There are people in this town who don't like Spencer, he knows that, but he isn't sure if any of them would be willing to hurt him.

"Eli Jasper," he says. "He's been physically aggressive toward Spencer before. He pushed him at Coop's... Shea Cooper's birthday party. When I tried to get him to leave Spencer alone he followed me outside and attacked me. We were both arrested." It's a small town and James is a detective. If he doesn't know that already, he's sure to find it out with ease. "I haven't seen him since then, but I know he hates Spencer. And there's a man named Mark Fuller who hates me. He's tried to hurt Spencer before. I don't think he had anything to do with this, though, he's... it's about revenge. He wouldn't have tried to hurt Davin."

There's part of James that can't help the mild anger he feels about the fact that Davin's in trouble because of someone else. That whatever happened to him is because of Joel and Spencer. But he knows rationally that's only because Davin is so important to him. Davin being in any type of danger is the worst thing he can think of, no matter whose fault it is. He knows Davin would want him to help his friends, and he has no choice. He needs Joel's information if he's going to find his boyfriend and bring him home in one piece. That's all James cares about right now.

"Okay," he says, patting Joel on the shoulder again. "Okay. We'll find them. I just need you to think if there's anything else that's happened lately that was strange. Any weird phone calls? Visitors?"

"Some letters on his birthday," Joel says and there's a flare of anger when he speaks. The thought that anyone in this town has taken it upon themselves to write threatening letters to Spencer on his birthday makes him sick, but the thought that they might have taken it further than that makes him furious. "People who still think he killed his parents. I got rid of them, though, I didn't want him seeing them. He said he gets them every year, I didn't think anyone would do something like this."

That was stupid of him, he sees it now.

"No calls or visitors, but I have a ward on the house." It means people must be invited in by either him or Spencer, but it also keeps out people who wish to do harm on the house or its inhabitants out on the street. No one can come to the house if they want to cause trouble.

A ward?

James eyes advert to the ground as he processes what Joel said. In a town filled with witches and the fact that he's dating one, magic shouldn't come as a surprise, but it does cause him to pause for a moment, to learn that Joel is a witch too. He already could've guessed that whoever managed to take Davin down had powers of their own. He just hates feeling like he can't protect the people that mean the most to him. He hates feeling like he doesn't have any control.

He lets it go though as he turns back to Joel. "So you wouldn't be able to find those letters again?" he asks hopefully. "It may help us find a lead. The cops will come in here. See if they find any fingerprints. Blood." He looks down at the red stain in the middle of the room with a blank stare. He doesn't know whose blood that is and that scares him. "But we'll need more. I'll go up to Davin's. Just see if maybe there was something he didn't tell me."

"I... I can look," Joel says, but he's sure they're all gone. The thought about going home and having to look for the letters makes his stomach clench tight and for a second he thinks he might be sick. But then he nods and looks down at his shaking hands. "I'll look."

There isn't much else he can do. He's tried locator spells, he's called the police, he's made a report, he's looked everywhere Spencer might be. His next step is doing whatever James tells him and when he gets home he'll call his mother and see if she has any suggestions. She's a more powerful witch than he is, maybe she'll be able to help him figure something out.

"Can you call me?" he asks. "If you find anything? I just... I don't know..." He stops and shakes his head again. "I don't know what to do."

The misery in Joel's voice hits a hard place inside of him, a place that is raw and hurting as it sinks in that once again Davin has been taken from him. That he's in danger and possibly hurt, and James has no clue how or where to begin to find him. It hurts as he watches the misery on Joel's face because he understands.

He lays a hand on Joel's shoulder, reassuring him in a tone that sounds more like when he's consoling a victim's family. "We're gonna do everything we can. I promise," he says. "We will find them. I'll call you as soon as I can. I need to wait here for the team to show up. They will have questions."

"I'll tell 'em I took your statement if you...if you think you need to leave." He understands this is hard. "I'm not sure who'll be working the case, but I'll give you a heads up before they call you down to the station."

[closed: davin, dated for 5/16]

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