001. Beginnings
It's her first day at the precinct and she wrinkles her nose as she steps into the squad room. It's certainly a boy's club here-detectives in suits sprawling at beat-up metal desks, sipping coffee from styrofoam cups, all of them eyeing her with frank curiosity. One dark-haired detective in particular takes his time, running his eyes up her legs. She flushes with annoyance and glares. He gives her a slow, devastating grin, and she looks away.

'Dr. Olivet?' a bald man wearing suspenders strolls out of an office. 'I'm Don Cragen. You ready to start your career with the police?'

002. Middles
He takes up so much space when he sleeps, sprawling restlessly in the middle of her bed. He is so filled with energy and vitality in his waking life that surely it is not surprising it spills over at night. She has always been a light sleeper but sleeping with him was different, better. She casts herself into his arms and sleeps soundly for hours, his big hands resting warmly on her back, her cheek pressed against his chest so she can feel the steady beating of his heart. That steady rhythm is what soothes her, underscoring all her dreams.

003. Endings
She doesn't think he would react like… that. So coolly, coldly, nodding as if she meant nothing to him at all. He collects his things and leaves her apartment, leaves her, like he doesn't care. He doesn't even say he's sorry…

She knows him so well but she doesn't know how he could do that.

She lies paralyzed on the sofa, staring blankly at the television as endless reruns of thirtysomething play in the background. When the news comes on, he's there, he's punching a corrupt politician and she realizes that yes, maybe he did care.

But it's too late.

004. Insides
This is what she does, this is what she studied-delving around in people's minds to help them, to heal them. Sometimes their minds are organized, compartmentalized, laminated, and others are messy, their problems obscured by clutter and stress and emotions. His is full of defences; he fights her off every time she gets close to touching on a source of pain. She feels like a neurosurgeon operating, careful to extract only the damaged tissue-but those patients aren't awake and fighting her every moment. But he can't fight forever, and he lashes out, breaks down, and finally, finally she breaks through.

005. Outsides
He wraps his arms around her as she stands in the bathroom, pressing his cheek against hers. She looks at them in the mirror and she catches his eyes as he grins. God, he is handsome-dark hair, hazel eyes, strong features, and a grin that makes her weak at the knees. Her gaze shifts and she looks at herself-they are a study in contrasts; she is slim where he is muscular, her eyes grey and steady without his ever-present fire. His hand ghosts a caress on her waist and she shivers, watching as his eyes grow dark and he grins.