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Goren bent over the body and smelled the young woman's suit. "Almost… musty?" He muttered to himself, half-forgetting his partner wasn't watching over his shoulder.

Nothing obvious to him came to mind. He glanced over at the body nearby, which was a woman about ten years older. One was slumped over the table, and the other next to it on the ground. As far as they could tell there didn't seem to be any reason for their deaths. They were both young and healthy looking, and there was no attack. Witnesses described it as both women simply having lunch t the tables out front of their work, along with dozens of other people. Then they simply fell over and died.

Eames spoke to the witnesses while Goren ordered the crime scene photographer to take pictures from nearly a dozen different angles of the two victims.

After Eames was done talking to the witnesses she went back over to her partner. He stood staring at the woman slumped over the table, with one arm across his chest and his other arm resting against it, bent, his hand under his chin. He was thinking. "No one saw anything…as usual." She looked at him curiously. "Got something?"

He motioned with his hand, in the direction of the older victim. "Well, she went first…she didn't move from her spot. So…whoever killed them must have surprised her then went directly after…after her friend." He tilted his head. "We'll have to wait for Rogers to find the entry point."

"You're thinking poison?"

He nodded. "I can't…I don't see an injection mark but I'd assume it's…in the back some place?"

Eames studied the scene again then looked up at him, a thought coming to mind. "CSU's going through the trash, I bet they'll find some food containers with the poison in it."

"Ingestion? Both of them?" He asked confused. He pointed to the remnants of the food that was still on the table. "But…she had fast food…she had vegetarian…what food would they have in common?"

She smirked. Sometimes she was surprised at him. "They may have shared."

He met her with a blank stare. "Shared what?"

"Some fries maybe?"

"Why would-" He paused, seeing Eames' smirk. He gave a nod. "Right. A woman thing."

Women just tended to share food more often then men, and if one or both were worried about calories sharing would help ease their fears. Or they simply couldn't eat all their food and didn't want to waste it.


The Morgue…

Rogers handed the file to Goren, knowing he would insist on seeing it first anyways. "Cause of death…poisoning."

Goren flipped past the first page.

"What kind of poison?" Eames asked seriously.

"Hemlock. We found significant amounts in each of their stomach contents."

"Really?" Goren asked, his interest peaked. He turned to Eames. "Socrates' method of execution was hemlock poisoning…it causes paralysis?" He asked Rogers, making sure his information was correct.

She nodded. "Yes, but these two had 3 times the lethal dose in their system. Death would have been instantaneous."

"But…" Goren pointed to the deceased woman on the table behind him. "She had time to get up and take a few steps…"

"That's probably because she had a substantially smaller amount of the poison in her system than her friend."

"W-what food was the hemlock found in?"

"Their salad most likely. If mixed properly, the dressing would mask most of the taste and smell."

"Hemlock…t-that's not very…common to find…is it?" Goren tilted his head ever so slightly, deducing that if hemlock was common than more killers would use it.

"That depends. Hemlock looks a lot like fennel so it can be overlooked to the casual eye…but to distinguish between the two one can just crush the leaves. Hemlock gives off a musty smell."

Goren shared a glance with his partner. "We should…their families. We need to speak with them."

She nodded in agreement.


Hannah sat impatiently at the table, trying to appear as patient as possible. She bit her tongue. Her hair was up in a clip and she wore a sleek black dress.

Goren poured her the wine, amused.

She noticed his smirk. She raised her eyebrows. "I look completely ridiculous don't I? As impatient as a fruit fly…"

He snickered lightly. "I could just do this now."

She smiled brightly, excitedly. "Oh you don't have to."

He shook his head, grinning and pulled out the flat rectangular box from his pocket. "How did you know….t-that…it would be tonight?"

She shifted in her seat, wanting to know what he got her as an early birthday present, as she had been wondering for over a week. "A lot's been going on recently and you're busy at work…yet you had a whole evening planned, not just dinner….not that dinner isn't great because it is, it's very nice here and…" She put a hand to her mouth. "Okay I'm starting to babble."

He chuckled and put the box in front of her. "Open."

She opened it slowly. Goren studied her face as she did so. "Robert it's…"

She didn't have to say anything else. He knew she liked it. After all she called him 'Robert' instead of 'Bobby' which generally meant she was emotional over something.

Hannah's eyes stung. "It's so beautiful."

"Here." He got up and went to her side of the table, took out the necklace from the box and undid the clasp. Then he put it around her neck. It hung down to about an inch above her cleavage. She kissed him gratefully then studied the necklace around her neck. It sparkled beautifully from the candlelight coming from the lone tealight centrepiece.

Goren went back over to his chair and sat down pleased. There was a lot of pressure when it came to giving gifts to those you loved. Screwing it up could easily lead to misinterpretation. Especially with a girlfriend. "So you like it?"

"I love it." She wiped her eyes. "So beautiful and my first diamond too." She took her handbag and opened it before pulling out her compact. She quickly glanced at her face to make sure nothing was smudged then admired her necklace for a second before putting it away. "Thank you so much. I love you."

He blinked, stuck on something she just said. "Your…first diamond? Well…you were married…didn't…" He trailed off, not sure if he should bring of marriage just yet. He had it all planned...well, not all of it, but he knew when and where. It would happen on her actual birthday, so she could never forget the date and it would be extra special.

"The only jewellery I ever got from Jake was my wedding band." She smiled. "You are so sweet." She grabbed her wine glass. "You're chances of getting lucky tonight have just gone up."

Goren nearly split a gut from laughing. He hadn't expected her to say that then and there, right in the restaurant.

After dinner, the couple went for a nice walk in the warm summer night.

"You said that there was…a new woman starting at the gardens last week…" He led Hannah over to a bench so she could sit down and rest her feet. He had only just remembered that she had mentioned the new employee to him a couple days before.

She sat down and Goren took a seat next to her, slipping his arm around her. He liked walking through Central Park with her. Well, any place, but parks were especially nice to walk with her. It was just more romantic this way. "Yep. Lydia Evans." She made a face.

Goren smiled. "What? You don't like her?"

"No, she gives me the creeps."

"Really? Why?"

"I don't know. I just get this feeling…like I should watch my back or something." She smiled slightly. "She's probably going to be the nasty-gossipy type…and I've already seen her be a little passive-aggressive…and she flirts with Jeffrey a lot."

"Jeffrey?" Goren tried to think for a second. "He's…the head of human resources?"

She nodded. "But it's totally inappropriate. I mean, right there in front of all of us, to flirt with him? She could have at least waited until they were alone, I mean really."

"Well…I'd flirt with you in front of everyone." He flashed a smile at her.

She snickered. "Okay let's see it then."

His smile faded for a second then spread into a sheepish smile. "I uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck, not sure what to say to that.

Hannah giggled and took his hand that was draped over her shoulder and let her fingers play with his. "You're so cute when you don't know what to say."


Goren studied himself in the mirror and ran a hand through his hair. "I need to cut my hair."

Hannah wore a purple short sleeved dress that came just past her knees with tone on tone patterns all over it. There was a white camisole underneath that was sewn to the dress and the purple material came nearly down to her waist so the camisole attracted some attention. She went up to him and slipped her arms around him. "I love your curls."

"Another couple months and….and it could look like an afro."

She smiled. "I'd love to see that."

He turned to her with a smirk. "I bet you would." He ran a finger across the thin chain of the necklace she wore. She hadn't taken it off since he gave it to her a week before. "So uh…I guess I'll see you sometime tonight then?" The detectives had to go upstate to check out a lead and they weren't sure how long that would take.

She nodded and spoke with a sly smile. "If it's late and you want to talk…or anything…you can wake me up."

He grinned and gave a nod. "Count on it."

Hannah began adjusting his tie, which was a habit of hers. She liked to make sure it was just right. Goren loved it because it was a sign of affection.

It was just before lunch, when Jeffrey Alcott, one of her few bosses came into her office. "Hannah? I need to speak with you."

She hung up the phone. "Sure."

As it turned out, it was a conversation Hannah was not ready for, nor did she think it would ever take place. She was good at her job.


Goren put down his sub and answered his phone. "Goren." The seriousness melted when he heard Hannah's voice. "Hi…no, Eames and I are just having lunch…" He frowned. "What's wrong? You sound…upset." He paused. "What? Really? But…why? I thought…" He got up from the table and held his hand up as if to say 'I'll be right back' and left the diner where he could talk in private.

Eames finished her lunch, watching her partner through the window, pace slowly back and forth.

Eventually he stopped, ran a hand over his face, let out a heavy sigh, gave a nod, and hung up. He took a second before coming into the diner. He slid back into the booth.

"Is everything okay?"

"Uh…no."

"Is it Max or Noah?"

"No, they're fine…but Hannah…her boss just fired her."

"Why?"

"Something about the dress code." He picked up his drink and was about to take a sip when he added. "It doesn't make sense. She never…she never wears anything…inappropriate." He shook his head and took a sip. Hannah may not have dressed like a blazer-wearing lawyer as he often saw many professional women dress, but there was never anything wrong with her clothes. She also always acted completely professionally at work. It just wasn't right.


Goren used his key, unlocked the front door and went inside. The alarm beeped with a warning. He quickly typed in the password, shut the door, locked it, and reset the alarm. He turned around to find a light on in the living room. He went into the room and found Hannah sitting on a stool at the island.

She had her hair up messily in a bun, she was wearing a matching pajama shorts and top under her robe which was left open, and she was eating one of Noah's chocolate pudding cups.

She wiped her mouth when she saw him.

He sighed, put his binder down and went over to her. He pulled her into a hug. "It's…it's going to be okay. I promise."

Her eyes stung again. "I swear if I knew he thought I should wearing something more business-y I would have bought something."

"He never told you…ever?"

"No." She shook her head and drew from him, wiping her eyes. "I don't understand…and…Max…" Her eyes burned more. "He called Lewis to ask for more shifts and now he's talking about dropping out from that play he was so excited about just to make ends meat and what if I have to use his or Noah's inheritance? I don't want to do that because it's theirs…and what kind of mother am I? I can't provide for my kids…" She put a hand over her mouth and started crying despite how much she tried to stop, it was no use.

Goren pulled her into a hug again. "You're a great mother. You love your kids, you protect them, you sacrifice everything for their happiness…this isn't your fault. It was…a…a miscommunication. We'll figure this out…m-maybe there's still a chance to…to get your job back."

She shut her eyes miserably. "It'll be a waste of time."

"M-maybe not."

She sighed. "I'm so glad you're here."

He blinked emotionally. He loved to hear that. Goren kissed her forehead and just held her for some time.


Note - I hope this doesn't sound all thrown together quickly. I do have a plan for everything so you'll just have to see where I'm taking this...

Also, I would love your opinions on the progression of my story so if you feel up to it please R&R. Thanks!