Title: Smoke and Ashes
Fandom: Law and Order: Criminal Intent
Category: Gen.
Spoilers: None
Word count: 96
Summary: I heard rumours, I heard talk... A little bad press has never scared me off (Smoke and Ashes by Tracy Chapman)
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.
They say he's abnormal, a fantastical enigma. (She hears the whispers as she walks through the Squad Room; learns to shut out the murmurs, like ambient white noise). Goren is oblivious, head bent over the desk as he runs a finger across an ink-bruised page. Sighs, sits up. Notices her.
They say he's a freak. A weirdo. A psychic.
"I need a coffee. Want one?"
"Please."
(He smiles; grins at her a little. Lumbers out of the too small chair, away from the too small desk).
They say he's an aberration.
(Alex says he's her partner).