Margaret Ellen Sawyer hated being the new girl. It didn't matter wether it was twenty years ago in highschool or her first day as a rookie cop. She hated it.

First day in Gotham and already some sleez with a point to prove had already tried to take advantage of her. Not only was he not her type but anything that foul smelling would have turned her off anyway. She could now only hope for a good night's sleep and a, at the least, bareable first day at the GCPD. But then again this is Gotham. Nobody got a good night's sleep.

At five o'clock every morning James Shepard, M.E. for the GCPD, woke up and commenced his morning ritual and prepared himself for another day of work. For most it is a grisly job, cutting open a corpse, scrounging around the bloody, soft innards of the deceased to determine the cause of death. But he loves it. Not in a sick, psychopathic way. He's interested in what he can learn about a person's life. The wear if a person's muscle and bone can be an interesting story teller about what kind of activity the person was involved in. The callous on the feet told you wether he, or she, walked alot or wether they were more relaxed. Yes his interest in the dead was purely, personal.

Commissioner Jim Gordon swiftly walked through the precinct, his new detective at his side. She was young and hungry. Weren't they all at one point? He admired her. Her record was impeccable as was her attitude. As he walked he read her file. "Margaret Ellen Sawyer, transfer from Metropolis, then to National City, then here. Any particular reason for moving around so much"? She was taken aback by the question, but didn't show it. "Just haven't found anything to tie me down sir".

"Well, glad to have you on board Sawyer. Right now I want you to see our M.E.".

"Why"?

"Because your going to be working with him".

"I'm sorry sir, this may be forward but, why am I working with an M.E.? I'm not medically trained".

"Correction. He's working with you. You see, Shepard is incredibly useful in the field. His observational skills make him an impressive detective".

"Sounds like you've got your own personal Batman".

"Except Batman doesn't talk that much".

Maggie was expecting a lot from her first meeting with Dr. James Shepard. Seeing him bisecting a pig with a chainsaw with Beethoven in the background was not on the list. Her first instinct upon seeing a chainsaw weilding maniac in a gas mask was to draw her sidearm and cease the issue right there. Except nobody seemed put off by the sight. Finally the cacophony ended with first the chainsaw then the music. Great, she was going from working with Supergirl to being partners with a sociopath.

"Theodore? Has anyone seen Theodore"? His voice was muffled by the mask but the British accent was loud and clear. This guy was starting to sound more like Sherlock Holmes than Batman. "James, I want you to meet your new partner, detective Margaret Sawyer. Just transferred from National City". Her approach was halted by the removal of his gas mask and reveal of a handsome, strong face that sported clean, dark brown hair with a slight edge of gray. He was very attractive but, as she always made clear, not her type. Especially when deep blue eyes like his roamed her body. "Your single, that's good. Makes it easier on me". Maggie wasn't sure what to think about that comment but one thing was sure, if he was implying what she thought he was, he was gravely mistaken. "I don't know what your implying, but I'm not some slut to take advantage of".

"Of course not. Your not my type anyway". Another jab, this guy was on a roll. "And what exactly is your type"? With that ME Dr. James Shepard opened a vault and pulled out the body of a woman, late twenties to early thirties. "The deceased type, detective". At this point it was clear to Maggie that this guy was crazy. Frustrated she turned to face Gordon. "Look commissioner, I can't work with this guy, clearly he has issues".

"Issues or not he is the best M.E. around, not only are we lucky to have him, but unlike Batman, he answers to us. Give him a chance Sawyer. And by the way, he prefers to have partners who are single so he doesn't have to worry about family getting in the way".

"Family getting in the way? What's that supposed to mean"?

"It means he prefers not to have to worry about getting someone out of harm's way and jepordizing the mission".

"Sounds like he doesn't have anyone himself".

"And that's just the way I prefer it detective. I assure you I'm not heartless, just very dedicated to my work". Minute by minute James Shepard was becoming a more complicated enigma. One which Maggie Sawyer, for some strange reason, was determined to solve.

She found that working at GCPD wasn't as bad as expected, as long as Dr. James Shepard stayed in his morgue. But he wasn't always in his morgue. Almost weekly they had a new body to deal with. Not just any body. Any body too much for other detective teams. Usually it only took James a few moments with the body to know how the person died and what weapon they were looking for. His observational skills were impressive, but not enough to make up for his asshat tendencies. She was disliking this man more and more. But it was their next case that would be the real test.

The dark figures long, bony fingers gripped the knife and slowly made incisions on the pale neck of his victim, their screams were like a song to his twisted ears. his smile was like a child on Christmas day. "Don't worry', he said to his prey, 'it won't be too long, I just need them to know who killed you".

James Shepard never showed when he was upset or disturbed. But that didn't mean he never was. Now was such a time. He had seen this kind of sadistic carving of human flesh before. In all his liv...life he had never seen a more dispicable human than the one who did this. Standing slightly behind and to the right Theodore Davis, Shepard's long time assistant slightly winced, but kept his composior. Being an M.E. was a long time dream of his, and something he wanted to do. He had learned a lot under the tutalage of James Shepard and he was, now more than ever, convinced of his career choice. "Theodore look at the knife marks what can you tell me"? Theodore, all too happy to impress his superior, took charge. "The killer made multiple, shallow cuts along the neck while holding down the head of the victim, who's struggling caused the blade to unintentionally slice deeper I to the muscle".

"And you know it to be unintintional how"?

"Because the slightly jagged cuts of the deeper inscicions don't match the smoother inscicions. Reasonably the deeper cuts were caused by the struggles of the victim". Theodore, looking for confirmation looked to James, who smiled and clapped. "Well done Theodore, I couldn't have done a better job myself".

"Whh...um, thank you sir".

"Now how about the cause of death"?

"Th...the cause of death"?

"Yes, Theodore. Clearly our victim wasn't killed by mere lacerations to the neck".

"Right, of course, I'm sorry". Performing a more thorough search Theodore opened the mouth of the victim and stepped back, at the same moment Maggie Sawyer walked into the room. "Shepard, we need an I'd on the vic ASA...". The sight of the bloodied body caused her to freeze in her tracks. "Ah, detective, come here I need a word with you", he said, taking her shoulder gently, leading her to his office. Inside, her shock having worn off, Maggie stammered a question. "I've worked a lot of homicides James and I have never seen any like that. What happened"? His usual cold, emotionless demeanor gone James looked at her with fear in his eyes. "Margaret, I need you to promise me that, whatever I say, you will not breathe a word of this to anyone". Unhaltingly she promised. "Good. Do you care for a drink"?