Hi. I used to be the sarcastic polar bear. Ignore the lowercase letters because I'm typing this author's note on my phone so whatever. Anywho I don't own Cause of Death. I don't own Total Eclipse of the Heart, either. Read now lol.

Blaise Corso always thought she could handle any situation on her own. Most of the time, she could. She could take the stress and physical dangers of her career; she could handle her mother's deteriorating health.

Of course there were times when she felt like she had too much on her plate, but she always managed to face it all without help.

Her relationship with Jeremy Redbird was one of the more complicated things she had juggled. Her original intention was a simple friends with benefits relationship, but it led to something different. She felt herself becoming attached.

She did what she always did. She ended it. Whenever she felt that indescribable feeling, she detached herself before she could get too close.

When Jeremy was stabbed, the feeling became too much. In that horrific moment she realized that she had allowed herself to get too close. Once he pulled through, Blaise ended whatever they had together.

She wondered if she had made the right decision. A cold sensation of guilt had taunted her ever since she broke up with him. And now that sensation was colder and stronger than ever.

"Uh, Blaise? You still with me?"

She snapped out of her contemplation. "What?"

Mal gave her a strange look. "You zoned out on me."

"Whoops. Sorry. What do you want?"

"I was telling you about the dead guy. You know? The one that was found this morning? His limbs were chopped off?"

"Oh, yeah... when are we going to the scene?"

"Uh... we're already at the scene." Mal turned the vehicle off. "Are you sure you're alright? Maybe you shouldn't be working because of- you know what."

"I'm fine," Blaise insisted. "I can work because of 'you know what' just fine. It's not like I can't punch the snot of people or fire a gun."

Mal looked unconvinced but shrugged. "Okay." He made his way to the crime scene with Blaise following him. "Damn. This guy's really gross."

"You think?" She stood beside the limbless torso, cringing her nose at the familiar odor. "What do we have?"

Kai looked up. "See how messy and weird the cuts are? It was done with a jagged rusty knife... why can't these people use samurai swords or something awesome for once?"

She ignored the complaint. "What else?"

Kai jiggled a bag containing two small bottles. "He had these in his pockets. Maybe it's his speeeeed! Or some kinda psychotropic gateway to his dreams!"

"Kai," Mal growled.

"Killjoy," Kai mumbled.

Once the scene was fully investigated and the remains of the body were removed, Blaise returned to the squad car, closing the door with more force than necessary.

"Okay, that was something I'd like to unsee. So we have some sicko out there cutting limbs off and taking them with him. Is this some lame slasher movie reenactment? When we find this creep, I wanna be the one to knock his lights out."

Mal glanced at her but didn't respond. She had told him what was on her mind but had almost threatened him to keep it a secret. "I'm assuming the cat's still in the bag?"

"Yeah. I'll let it out when I want to."

CoD-CoD

Days in the SFPD often seemed to last longer than they should. This day in particular seemed to last forever. It felt as if she had crammed a week's worth of work into one day.

When evening finally fell and it was time to leave, she threw on her brown jacket and grabbed her car keys.

She had almost reached the door when she passed Jeremy, who she had been attempting to avoid. She mentally groaned.

"Hey, Blaise... can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. Shoot."

"Is everything okay? You've been acting funny." Even though she had basically hidden from him when he was in the hospital, he still cared about her.

"What? More 'Blaise' than usual? If people keep on using my name as an adjective, I'm taking out everyone in this precinct!"

"Let's not do that. I guess it can be put another way..." Jeremy paused, trying up think of an adjective that wouldn't send the conversation in the wrong direction.

She shrugged. "Ah, forget it."

"What's going on? Other than the fact that we... you know, broke up."

"Nothing," she lied.

"I don't buy it."

Blaise leaned against the wall and let out a heavy breath. "What's the point of sugar coating this?" she muttered. C'mon, spit it out! This is about the two of us and he's gonna find out somehow!

"Sugar coating what?"

"I'm pregnant."