Chapter 35: I am the half brother of Meredith Grey

A FEW MINUTES PRIOR:

"Lucas Grey?" Debra's keen eyes immediately caught sight of the teen sprinting and closely trailing behind a girl close to the Seattle Police Department's fence.

Debra had just recently enjoyed a late dinner with her brother. Despite being a private investigator and not a police officer, she was always interested in police cases, particularly those that involved killers and their unique and ingenious methods of committing their crimes.

The recent discovery of bodies in the ocean immediately piqued her curiosity. Compounded by the fact that her brother was now part of the team working to solve the mysterious case, Debra wasted no time in bombarding him with questions, even though it meant intruding on his late-night work.

Curiosity piqued, Jake cast a glance in Debra's direction and asked, "Do you know these children?"

"Not really," Debra replied, her eyes momentarily flickering back to Lucas, before continuing, "A while back, this kid, Lucas Grey, was reported missing. I was hired to look for him."

"Oh," Jake acknowledged.

Despite Debra and Dexter joining Jake Peralta, they weren't exactly close friends; in fact, they had only recently met at the diner where the siblings had their late dinner. Debra's animated conversation drew Peralta's attention immediately, and he couldn't help but overhear the topic they were discussing.

Upon hearing their conversation, Peralta introduced himself as an FBI Agent, one of the two taking charge of the case they were discussing. He also briefly mentioned that he just recently arrived in the city as well.

Despite the late hour, nearly midnight in fact, Dexter extended the courtesy of inviting him to tour the police station, where they were constructing a state-of-the-art tent to house the decomposing bodies of the victims found in the ocean.

Debra could have never imagined that just by accompanying her brother and Peralta, she would have a chance to see Lucas again. The last time she saw him was at Mercy West before he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

"Mind sharing what you're up to?" Jake Peralta inquired, his eyes shifting between Sam and Lucas.

"Nothing important," Sam replied, cautiously distancing herself from the fence. Having almost landed in juvie before, she felt a hint of suspicion around the man before her. Trusting her instincts, she decided not to disclose any of her intentions to him.

Noticing the camera in her hand, Jake raised an eyebrow inquisitively and asked, "Then what's the camera for?"

"Uh, bird watching," Sam quickly fabricated a response.

Dexter couldn't help but snort, seeing through the lie. "Bird watching at night?" he quipped sarcastically.

"Yeah, owls are more active at night," Sam doubled down on her fib, nearly causing a stifled laughter to escape Lucas's mouth.

But suddenly, before the conversation could proceed further, Freddie finally caught up, breathing heavily. "Damn... you... run fast. Sam, you can't film those dead bodies," he asserted.

Hearing Freddie's statement, Jake Peralta immediately took out his badge and said, "You three need to come with me".

************BACK TO PRESENT******

LUCAS POV:

While waiting for our guardians to arrive, I began to connect the dots about all the recent events happening in Seattle. I was pretty sure that all those dead bodies found in the ocean were Dexter's doing. It was the same thing he did in the show, the only difference being he was found in Seattle and not Miami, which is interesting to think about.

Fortunately, I didn't have to spend my time in Dexter's presence due to him leaving after we were placed in the police station.

In most cases, I wouldn't be against meeting other people from popular shows, but Dexter was one of those characters whom I really wanted to stay away from.

I never really finished the entire Dexter TV show, having only watched the first three seasons, but I did watch a few clips of the later seasons on YouTube, and I believe that Dexter really never changed. One may argue that he was helping the world by taking out other people who were just like him, but this was different now. This is no longer a TV show; it's a world I currently live in, my new reality.

I can no longer detach myself from Dexter as a character because he is a living, breathing person, just like me. Plus, if I'm honest with myself, I like Jake Peralta as a character more than Dexter. Dexter's code may prevent him from harming Jake for the time being, but I'm not totally sure about that in the long run.

In the real world, Dexter might be tempted to abandon his moral code to evade prison. If I stand idly by and later discover in the news that Jake met a tragic fate, it would devastate me. Such an outcome is the last thing I want to witness.

Currently, I was seated between Sam and Freddie simply because the two individuals couldn't stand each other's presence at the moment. Freddie didn't want to be near Sam due to being annoyed and pissed off at her for causing him to get in trouble with his mother and potentially the law.

Meanwhile, Sam was just nonchalant about everything and totally unconcerned about the predicament we found ourselves in. Honestly, if I weren't an adult trapped in a teen's body, I would have also given Sam a piece of my mind, but I'm pretty sure that once Carly hears of this mess, she will be the one to give Sam an earful on behalf of Freddie and I.

"Freddie! Freddie!"

Suddenly, our attention was immediately taken by a woman's loud screaming, and instantly we all knew who it was—Freddie's mom, Mrs. Benson.

With her bag in hand, she came charging inside the police department, even surprising the people inside. With a worried look on her face, she immediately zeroed in on Freddie the moment she spotted him.

While grabbing Freddie's arm, she pulled him out of his seat and placed him behind her back, proceeded to stare daggers at Sam and stated while pointing her index finger at her, "You! You are definitely the reason why my Freddie is in this mess!".

"Mom! Stop it!" Freddie shouted back, immediately embarrassed by his mother's actions. He noticed multiple police officers in the station stopping what they were doing and watching the scene unfold, intrigued by the commotion his mother was causing.

"No, Freddie! Sam is a bad influence! Who else would put thoughts in your mind to sneak out of bed and go into the city! On a school day!" Mrs. Benson replied in anger.

Soon, several individuals entered the room, Spencer witnessing Mrs. Benson's behavior, tried to calm her down and said, "Mrs. Benson, you need to relax. We don't know everything that happened yet".

As this was happening, both Alex and Meredith quickly approached me, which didn't surprise Lucas. Since he called Meredith at the hospital, it was only natural that Alex would come with her upon hearing the news that I got into trouble.

"Hi," I greeted them awkwardly. Meredith's face showed concealed anger, while Alex seemed amused about the entire situation.

"Wow dude. You got into trouble real quick," Alex commented.

"What were you doing outside?" Meredith asked, concealing her anger in her voice. Unlike Mrs. Benson, who let her emotions be known, Meredith was able to keep her calm, but I was pretty sure that once we left the police station, she'd let me know she didn't approve of my behavior, which I could only inwardly sigh about.

Honestly, I never thought we would be in this mess. I had assumed I was only going to check what Sam had planned and return back to the house before anyone found out. But unfortunately, that was not the case.

"Mrs. Benson, I think that's enough now," Carly stated as she moved in between Sam and Freddie's mom, eager to defend her best friend.

Seeing this, I decided not to answer Meredith's question for the time being and help Sam first by intervening. "I think Carly is right, Mrs. Benson. Besides, it isn't entirely Sam's fault that Freddie snuck out of his room."

Caught off guard by what I said, Mrs. Benson asked, wanting more clarity, "What do you mean by that?" Plus, seeing that she doesn't seem to know me personally, she added, "And who are you supposed to be? I don't know who you are."

"I'm Lucas Grey, Freddie's friend and classmate. I must admit, I had hoped for a more pleasant introduction to one of my friend's parents, but circumstances have taken an unfortunate turn," I stated with a quick glance at Sam and Freddie, silently urging them to remain quiet. "While it was Sam's idea to visit the Seattle Police Station at night, I take personal responsibility for persuading Freddie to sneak out, and for that, I wholeheartedly apologize on his behalf," I added, humbly lowering my head to convey the sincerity of my regret.

Lucas didn't notice, but Sam's expression turned peculiar when he came to her defense. While she trusted Carly to always support her, she hadn't expected Lucas to do the same. Regret surged within her for not heeding his earlier advice; perhaps if she had, they wouldn't find themselves in this troubling situation.

As the attention of most people was focused on Lucas, a sarcastic remark from Sam's mom pierced the silence, "Well, well, would you look at that? It seems my daughter didn't cause this mess for once."

Sam couldn't help but roll her eyes at her mother's presence. It was typical of her mom to jump to conclusions and see her as the root of all problems. Honestly, Sam knew that her mother had always preferred her identical sister compared to her, even if she doesn't say it out loud.

Suddenly, the room was interrupted by the arrival of Jake Peralta, who carried Sam's portable camera with him. He quickly noticed the significant number of individuals present and remarked while glancing around, "Wow, I didn't expect so many people. I thought only guardians would show up."

Even though Mrs. Benson didn't know who he was, she approached the man and firmly stated, "Sir, my Freddie is innocent!"

"Ma'am, I believe you have a misunderstanding," Jake quickly replied as he handed Sam her camera back.

"Before we proceed, allow me to introduce myself. I am FBI Agent Jake Peralta, and it was me who brought these children here," Jake explained, motioning towards Sam, Freddie, and I. "Just to clarify, they haven't done anything wrong, at least not yet," he added.

"What do you mean, 'not yet'?" Meredith asked, her curiosity evident.

"I reviewed the footage on the camera, and it explains why these children were at the Seattle Police Department so late at night," Jake replied.

"Footage? What do you mean, Sam? What were you really doing?" Carly questioned her best friend, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. Despite defending Sam, Carly knew her better than anyone else in the room, even more than her own mother. Furthermore, the fact that Sam had the camera, not Freddie, immediately piqued Carly's curiosity and made her even more skeptical.

Feeling the weight of Carly's gaze, Sam couldn't avoid the truth any longer. "I wanted to film the dead bodies found in the ocean for an iCarly segment," she admitted honestly.

"What?!" Carly exclaimed, taken aback by the absurdity of the idea. "Why on earth would you even consider that?"

"I thought it would attract more views, okay!" Sam retorted defensively.

"I mean, she's right about that", Alex commented while shrugging his shoulders. If one really wants to get famous, by all means show dead bodies to kids and teens, you wouldn't imagine how fast iCarly would crumble.

Thankfully, Jake Peralta interjected, offering a glimmer of reassurance to every guardian in the room. "Fortunately, they haven't filmed anything related to the dead bodies yet. That would have also been detrimental to our investigation. So, this time, I'll let them go with a warning," he stated.