Like any uncharted territory
I must seem greatly intriguing
You speak of my love like
You have experienced love like mine before
But this is not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight.
Alanis Morissette, "Uninvited"
After the solving of the James case, everything seemed to taper down to a slow crawl.
A very dull, slow crawl.
It wasn't only Christina that wished another difficult case, but those in the precinct jumped at every one that crossed the threshold, only to find disappointment in the fact that it was droll compared to what she had solved; drug arrests, homicides where the suspect was still in the area, and assault charges that didn't truly need the hand of the investigators. There was perhaps only one thing that could be deemed excitable in the weeks that followed:
"What the hell were you thinking!"
Charlotte had found out she had been dutifully removed from her position and placed into a new one as Robert Chang's partner. Being a partner to a rookie was perhaps the greatest insult to her. That meant she had to do all the work.
This time it was Christina's turn to give the irate woman a bored look as she paused in typing up a weapons report. As much as she had hated to break up the partnership, one that used to be blissful but only turned sour as years passed, it had to be done. The woman was simply weighing her down by not going through the proper methods, and actually assist her in solving a case instead of barring her at every turn.
She was silently amused by the irony of the words directed at her, and while it might have glinted in azure-hued eyes, she didn't verbally note it. Instead, she simply replied in a cordial tone, pushing aside the urge to say 'Problem?' "I believe it's quite obvious what I'm thinking. I requested a new partner because it seemed we were having differences."
"Then why didn't he stick you with the rookie?" Charlotte nearly snarled, her mauve painted lips were pulled back readily enough.
"Because I also asked to do a few cases alone. It's not unheard of to be independent, Charlotte. Besides, think of this as an educating experience for both you and Chang. I'm sure he would be honored to have an established detective on his side; to learn from and all." Lifting a hand she gave a wayward gesture, then dropped her fingers back to the keyboard of her laptop. The silence laid heavily between them, broken only by the clicking of the keys as she returned to her report. She wanted to glance up and perhaps see the regret sketched upon her former partner's face, but knew all she would find was scorn.
"Fine." Charlotte finally broke the silence with that single word, and Christina glanced up at her, rather surprised to see a smile on the woman's lips instead of an irritated twist. "Good luck, Daniels," she stated before she turned around and left. Pushing back a curled lock from her face that was too short to be bound with the rest of her hair, she quietly watched Charlotte as she continued to the Captain's office.
Perhaps she's going to agree to work with Chang, she thought to herself, her brows furrowing inward. She then snorted, shaking her head. Yeah, and perhaps I'm the Queen of England.
The change in the weather couldn't have been any less welcomed. Already the others were chomping at the bit, but now that the weather had grown colder, it was only subsequent that the crime rate would drop significantly. There were taunting hints of snow in the blistering air of Philadelphia, but it stayed just warm enough to keep it from falling. Regardless of the uncompromising weather, Christina had promised her friend that they would go out to lunch.
Or, in this case, a late dinner.
With her nocturnal schedule, everything was flipped around compared to a 'normal' person's. Since she wasn't going in to check upon a body, she didn't have to sign the lab sheet before she continued down the white-washed hall, the heels of her boots ringing hollowly against the tiled floor. Sliding a gloved hand against the door, she pushed it open and was just about to speak, though her mouth snapped shut. It appeared as if the trio within were a little busy. Letting the door swing closed behind her she stepped off to the side, smiling at the glances from Raoul and Melissa, then offering a fainter one to the stranger that was standing next to the dark skinned woman.
"You were right about your dead swimmer, Gray. She didn't drown." Raoul tapped a finger upon the silvered tray a blue-skinned cadaver rested upon, her body modestly covered with an equally blue sheet. With some interest, Christina stretched her torso and lifted her chin to get a better look. "Cause of death was a culpable fracture of the neck. Probably from a blow to the head. Cerebral contusions beneath the skull fracture indicates a savage hit."
"What about the time of death," Melissa questioned, stepping away from the table to remove her gloves. She gave Christina a 'one second' gesture and glanced over to Raoul as he shrugged.
"Gastric lumen contained dark, pasty material; maybe slightly digested meat, stringy vegetable matter. Emptying rates vary from person to person, but I estimate that she ate two to four hours before death." He reached over, lifting a bag of brownish-gold contents and Christina felt her own stomach turn. She didn't know how they could tolerate looking over dead bodies all day and the things that came from them, and for those reasons alone, she respected the Keepers.
Raoul hid a smile at Christina's obvious discomfort as he glanced over to her, and after muttering an 'excuse me' – one that was on the verge of being filled with laughter – he placed the bag aside again. "What of the kit?" This time it was the unknown one that spoke, and the detective turned her attention to him. He appeared young from what she could see of him, his ink black hair only making his skin appear more pasty, and his voice sounded a little under-confident; the slight hunch of his shoulders added to that effect. She couldn't tell much more about him, not with his back toward her, but she was sure she'd find out more later.
"Hey, you all set?" Melissa adjusted the strap of her overly large purse – which her mother always called a 'mini-suitcase' – and tucked her hands into her winter coat as she stepped over to where Christina was standing. Nodding in response, the door was opened and held for Melissa before she answered. "That I am. Chinese today, or would you rather pass after seeing stringy vegetables and slightly digested meat?"
"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. Unlike you, Detective Daniels, I can look upon a cadaver that's turned into soupy soap-wax and be able to eat linguine moments later." Giving a wave to the security as they passed him, she glanced over to her friend, who was looking green around the gills.
"Ugh. Okay, well ... there goes the idea for Chinese. How about just a trip to the café, eh? Maybe I won't get sick over a bagel. And do not go into something that appears like cream cheese. I'll have to hurt you."
Unable to hold it back any longer, Melissa laughed the whole way to the car.
"No ... she ... didn't." Staring over her steaming mug in disbelief, Melissa lifted a brow as the woman across from her broke down into a fit of chuckles, nodding as she lacked the air, and composure, for proper speech. Finally, after several deep breaths, she continued.
"She did. She didn't like having to work with a rookie, and so she complained to the Captain so much that I think he finally just stuck her with someone else. Chang may be working with Jacobson by next month. Imagine her surprise when the kid turned out to be a sponge. I bet she'sgoing tomiss out on leeching," muttering the latter sentence beneath her breath, she brought her cocoa to her lips, careful not to end up with whipped cream on the tip of her nose.
"Speaking of rookies, who's the newbie? Looks like he should fit in with you two well enough." Placing the mug aside, she pulled over the small plate topped by the remaining half of her bagel. Cutting off a portion of the cream cheese she spread it over the toasted bread then glanced over the café as she took a bite, savoring the flavor of the spread, even if it was plain.
"That's Willard." She paused at Christina's look and chuckled. "Yes, Willard. He came in from L.A. a few weeks back. A little creepy, but eh...I've seen worse. He's nice enough, though. He seems to know you."
Pausing in another bite, blue eyes lifted to brown, and her brows furrowed. "Oh?"
"Well, he knows of you. How couldn't he when that ugly mug of yours was broadcasted?" Melissa grinned at her friend, batting away the napkin that was tossed in her direction.
"Willard...who in their right mind would name their child Willard?" She chuckled faintly and took a sip from her cocoa. Simultaneously they glanced up as their waiter came by, offering to fill Melissa's mug, and at the obvious checking-out that she gave the young man as he left, Christina shook her head.
"What? He's cute." Shrugging lightly, she added creamer and sugar to her coffee. Plenty of sugar. Sometimes Christina wondered why she bothered getting coffee if all she wanted to do was kill the taste with plenty of additions.
"You are too old to be ogling guys."
"Oh this coming from Miss Met-A-Stranger-With-Gorgeous-Eyes." Smirking at Christina, who scowled to cover the embarrassed flushed that wanted to cover her cheeks, she finished turning her coffee to syrup and finally took a sip. Before adding more sugar.
"You're making it sound like I gushed. I've just never seen someone with his color eyes, is all. Hazel, yeah, but it was more of a gold..." she paused, lifting a brow at Melissa who was grinning like a jackal. "...What?"
"You're doing it again."
Another napkin came flying her way.
As enjoyable as their break was, it wasn't long enough. An hour later Christina drove them back to the station, and once they were inside, they had taken to their own separate ways. The detective traveled several floors up while Melissa went one down.
Pushing open the doors Melissa was pleased to see that the new guy was already cleaning up after their last body, preparing for the next; another 'mystery death' that would probably be solved too easily.
"Glover," she stated, catching the younger man's attention, and he looked over to her with eyes as dark as his hair; beady ones that reminded her of a rat. And the shape of his nose didn't stray her away from that mental image, either.
"Go ahead and take your break."
"Sure thing, Gray. Thanks." He offered her a warm smile that destroyed prior thoughts of rodents, and she smiled in return before moving into the computer lab to place her jacket over her chair. Raoul wasn't too far away, squinting at a set of fingerprints to see if they matched properly. He always insisted using his eyes before the computer. More than half the time the matches were correct.
"Glover's taking his break. Whatcha got there?" Cleaning close, she swept a few plaits over her ear, tucking them in with the others. He glanced up at her, then returned his eyes to the bright green prints. He drug down a set from the top row, replacing the one in the main observation box before looking at them again. At the obvious lack of a match, he tried again.
"A partial was found on the victim's watch. Came up with several ones that may match, and I'm just playing puzzle. Starting to get a headache so that means..." Clicking a button, he let the computer sort them out, going through each set before it would come up with one. While it calculated, he glanced up at her. "How was your break?"
"You mean how is Christina," Melissa stated pointedly, grinning as he eyed her then relented with a light shrug. He said nothing, and she continued while tapping the screen, pointing at one of the three the computer had sorted. "She's fine. Had some problems with Charlotte, but I'm sure you know about that already."
"Yup," he lied, truly not interested in what that woman was up to. After her little 'slip up' weeks back his opinion of her had dropped more than it was already.
"Why don't you talk to her, Raoul. Didn't you two go to the Captain's retirement party?" Pulling over her chair she lowered within it and sighed, kicking off her shoes beneath the desk. Though she had just got back from her break, she still had been on her feet all night.
"I did. She decided to get some rest. After the case I can understand. That one was a killer." He paused, adding: "No pun intended." Typing in the information upon the computer he looked over it, then penciled in his findings upon his clip board.
"You have to be more assertive, that's what it is. You're too much of a push over. A bit ironic for a little rich boy." She grinned jestingly at him and he poked her in the side with the pencil's eraser. "Better than me being a vain bastard, eh?" She nodded in agreement and crossed her arms over her stomach, drawing silent as she watched him work.
Truly, she couldn't see why Christina wasn't attracted to the man. Money aside, he had a wonderful personality, and he wasn't bad looking in the least. His features were a delicate mix of his mother's Italian heritage and his father's Spanish; chiseled, yet soft and boyish when he didn't allow his facial hair to grow in. Which was often. He dressed well, bordering upon expensive and causal, and he was intelligent.
As rumor went, Christina and Raoul were 'a thing' at one point and time, though they ended parting ways when work came between them. Raoul only did his job for the pleasure of it, and it gave him something to do while Christina was a pure workaholic. He had told her more than once that she was going to end up like her father; working himself near to death.
"Yeah," she finally agreed, nodding as she came from her thoughts. "Well. I should get back to work." Patting his shoulder, she rolled her chair back over to her own station, waving to Glover as he left, and began booting up her computer, failing to notice the wallet worn picture that Raoul was looking upon with ill-veiled regret.
