Just a reminder: OC's, original plot and poetry all belong to me.

"Ema Skye?" a voice asked and she looked up from her paperwork to see a young man looking around the office while holding a bouquet of yellow roses in his hands.

"What is it?" She said waspishly although she was sure she knew what it was. He moved toward her and handed her the flowers and packet of Snackoos.

"These are for you."

"Er…" Before she could ask who they were from, he'd turned around and walked away and she was left with flowers in one hand and Snackoos in the other and a confused expression on her face. "Weird," she muttered setting them both down on her desk. Who would send her roses? She focused on them and saw that they weren't purely yellow — the ends were tipped red. Her fingers weaved through them for a card or some form of message that would let her know who they were from but found nothing. A frown on her face, she turned to the Snackoos which were also free of any labels or messages.

"Well," she said with a shrug. "Free Snackoos. Thanks stranger."

"You're welcome," a voice responded and she turned around to find Deston leaning against one of the desks, a small smile plastered on his handsome face.

"You sent these?" Ema asked returning the smile. He nodded as he approached her side and he winked.

"Do you like them?" he asked.

"They're beautiful!" she exclaimed touching the petals. "But what are they for?"

"Just to brighten your day," Deston said looking up from the roses at her and flashing her another smile "You've been so swamped with work lately, I thought you could use something to cheer you up."

"Ugh, yeah," Ema made a face settling into her chair. "And it doesn't help that some idiot keeps leaving memos on my desk."

"What kind of memos?" Deston asked curiously as he pulled a chair from one of the other desks and seated himself opposite her. Ema picked up the trash can from the floor and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper which she opened up and showed to him. It had HS-9 scribbled on it. "Ah."

"I've had about a hundred of these," she grumbled throwing it back in. "I've even told the entire office that whoever is leaving these, they're going to the wrong person but they still keep turning up!" Deston laughed at her irritation.

"What does?" Klavier's voice interrupted and she and Deston turned to find him sauntering up to them, his thumb hitched in his belt. He was looking from one to the other with a small smile. He stopped before them and looked at Ema expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"Those memos I keep getting," she said waving her hand dismissively. She had already mentioned them to him. "Anyway," she said picking up her new presents. "Look what Deston got me!"

As Klavier's eyes landed on the roses and the Snackoos, his expression darkened and he looked at Deston instantly. "You got the fräulein detective these?"

"Yeah," Deston said with a smile. "Is that difficult to believe?"

"No," Klavier said but the clipped tone of his voice was at odds with his denial. He turned to Ema. "I need you to interview Leo Cadaverini again." And before Ema could reply, he turned around and walked away. She glared after him. Glimmerous fop. What was his problem? Probably didn't like that someone was getting more attention than him for once.

"Some people like to ruin someone's day," she grumbled and Deston chuckled. She turned to him and complained; "That's the third time he's asked me to interview that brute! I hate it. Cadaverini's impossible and he's always making these dirty innuendos."

Deston glanced at Klavier's retreating back before looking at Ema. "Consider it a compliment. He wouldn't tell you to do it unless he thought you were capable of handling said brute." Ema pouted. At least there was some truth to these words. "When are you planning on going?"

"I don't know," she replied shrugging her shoulders and setting her roses down again. "Maybe tomorrow. I've got so much work to do."

Deston nodded. "I better go too, Ema. I have a few things to do myself. Enjoy your Snackoos. It was hard for me to part with them."

She laughed. "Thanks." Deston inclined his head as he walked backwards and smiled at her. She watched him with a grin as he turned away and continued on until he was out of sight. She sighed and sat down at her desk again. Her eyes landed on a note that was in the middle of her desk and saw that it was the same memo. Where had this one come from! She was half tempted to grab everyone who'd walked past in the last 5 minutes and demand to know who the culprit was. However, realising that she wouldn't know who had actually walked by, she crumpled it up and threw it in the basket instead, where it rested with the rest of its brothers. In a snap decision, Ema picked up her handbag, the packet of Snackoos and walked towards the exit. No matter when she interviewed Leo Cadaverini, he would ruin her day — why not do it on an already crap day?

"I know what I'm doing," Deston's voice broke across the silence of the prison hallway unexpectedly and Ema stopped in her tracks. She frowned and looked at the door on her left from where his voice had come and found that it led to Cell Block D. She hadn't known Deston was here but there was nothing suspicious about that — he was a member of the FBI after all. He was probably just investigating something. She herself was just leaving after having questioned Leo about his knowledge regarding a murder. She'd talk to him later — he was probably busy. So, with a shrug, Ema made to continue on while wondering if it would be considered stalking if she waited outside for him… The next voice that spoke stopped her in her tracks.

"You sure about that man?" Most of the inmates voices usually became hoarse after a while due to the lack of conversation but Daryan's voice was still as smooth as ever.

"I know you're eager for this to work Daryan, but so am I." Deston said and Ema noticed the impatience in his tone. Her eyes wide she retraced her steps to the doorway where she leaned against it out of sight. What was going on? There was nothing strange about Deston visiting Daryan — they were friends and colleagues after all — but what was this plan they were talking about? She didn't like the sound of Deston's voice — it sounded secretive… sneaky.

"I need it to work, Cavatin," Daryan sounded impatient too now. "You don't."

"You've always been self-centred," Deston said exasperatedly. There was no reply from Daryan and Ema edged forward wondering if she could peek inside without being seen. Suddenly there was a thump and a "hey!" from Deston that would have made her jump had it not been for the fact that she was not easily surprised — one of the perks of being a detective. She tried to discern what she could from the silence but it seemed as though the two were still. She frowned willing them with her mind to say something more so she could understand what the hell they were planning — whatever it was, it didn't sound good. And she needed to know what it was.

"Does Gavin know?" Daryan asked and had she not been so intent on making out his words, Ema would have been surprised at the solemnity of his tone.

Deston didn't answer straight away; he snorted and this sound did surprise her. "Yeah right. You think I'm stupid? I wouldn't tell that bastard anything if my life depended on it."

"Just checking," Daryan drawled. "He has a way of acting like your friend at the right time and then turning around and stabbing you in the back."

"I know," Deston agreed.

"I don't wanna know what kinda crap he'd pull if he found out about — "

"I know, Daryan," Deston interrupted. "He won't."

"Gotta make sure you ain't taken in by his sweet words, man." Daryan laughed.

"Shut up, Crescend," Deston replied but he was laughing too.

Ema listened as quietly as she could, barely daring to breathe as she slowly stored away the pieces of this conversation for analysis later. All sorts of thoughts were starting to run through her mind and she had to fight against them to keep it clear — she needed to gather as much information as she could now.

"What about Adagio and Aded?" Daryan asked and Ema recognised the names as the remaining Gavinners artists. "Do they…?"

"No," Deston replied. "I haven't told anyone and I don't plan on doing so."

"Good." Daryan sounded pleased. "Adagio doesn't know how to keep his trap shut and Aded is — "

" - simplicity personified," Deston finished. "I know."

A phone beeped suddenly and Ema's heart nearly leapt out of her throat before she realised it wasn't hers. Reeling from the terror of the possibility that she'd been discovered, she snatched her phone out of her bag and turned it off thanking her guardian angel she hadn't been caught out. This relief, however, didn't last very long. Even though it hadn't been her phone that had sounded…

"I have to go," Deston said suddenly and Ema pushed herself away from the wall, somewhat panicked. "Tess wants to see me."

"Tell her I …" Daryan's voice faded off as Ema moved as swiftly and stealthily down the hallway as she could. She couldn't risk hanging around and getting caught by Deston — she had a feeling he wouldn't take well to it. So she kept on walking (practically running, rather) until she had wrenched open her car door, slid inside and slammed it shut behind her. Thank God she'd finally had the sense (and the courage, because it took a lot to fork out 2 grand) to finally buy a car. Otherwise who knows if she'd be able to hide from Deston otherwise. She could see him descending the steps and she ducked beneath the steering wheel. Ema knew he wouldn't suspect her — she was a detective after all and there was nothing unusual about her visiting the prison but whether she'd be able to control her emotions right now if he saw her was another matter entirely. So she waited an appropriate length of time before peeking out over the wheel to see if he was still around and just saw him pull away in his ostentatious Maserati. Thankfully, he hadn't seen her and Ema wasn't going to give him a chance to. So she waited for 5 minutes. And she pondered.

It was clear that Deston and Daryan were up to something and nobody else knew about it. Nobody except her.

She needed to know more. She had to find out what the plan was. But how? Deston and Daryan were the only ones who knew what it was and she doubted either of them would tell her. She supposed she had to follow Deston around and maybe even try to find out who visited Daryan in prison aside from Deston. Perhaps there was something to be found there? But Ema knew that wouldn't be easy. She would have to be careful following Deston around — no doubt he was accustomed to such behaviour being a servant of the law and an admired artist — not to mention she had a job which she also had to attend to. Maybe she could get someone to help her… No, that idea was thrown right out of the window the moment it came to her. She didn't want this getting back to Klavier. How would he take it? He was obviously barely coping with Daryan's incarceration. Ema's mouth turned into a downward pout as her thoughts turned to the prosecutor she had seen so little of. Granted, she barely talked with him but Ema found it impossible not to think of him every so often especially when she was Deston….

Ema's anger began to rise at Deston. She had thought he was a good man, a good friend. But he'd turned out to be no better than Daryan. In fact he was worse than him — at least Daryan didn't pretend to be a gentleman and a caring friend to Klavier. Deston had fooled everyone into believing he was the epitome of kindness when, really, he was the devil incarnate. It may have seemed a harsh judgement of the man especially having only heard a few lines but there had been no mistaking the scorn and hatred in Deston's voice when he'd spoken of Klavier. And that was enough for Ema. She didn't need any more proof that something was wrong — anybody who pretended to be a good friend while harbouring such dark hatred inside was clearly not trustworthy.

She shook her head. The discovery was taking time to sink in. She had spent the past few weeks in Deston's company and not once had she imagined that beneath the pleasant exterior lay a wolf in hiding. It seemed that she still wasn't wise enough. After all, hadn't Gant been just as amiable and helpful and kind? Had they not all trusted him also? How could she, with her experience, have fallen for such an obvious cover? When had she become naïve enough to believe that such charm was genuine? She was lucky she had discovered what she had in time — now she could do something about it and maybe prevent Klavier from getting hurt…

So what should she do first? Follow Deston or go back inside and find out more about Daryan's visitors? Maybe there was something in the video footage — after all, every cell was constantly being watched. But she could do that any time. Deston had just left and who knew where he might be going? He could lead Ema to somewhere she could find more answers…

No. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No, she needed time to deal with this. In this state, who knew what kind of a mistake she might make? She could give herself away completely. She needed to get her emotions under control.

But what if this unprofessional behaviour cost her a valuable lead?

It was this thought that caused Ema to take a deep breath and start her car — she had been sat here for five minutes but maybe - maybe - fate would be on her side and traffic might slow him down. Hastily she pulled out of the parking lot and glared impatiently at the guard at the exit who insisted on checking her car for any convicts she might be smuggling out despite the fact that she was a detective. By the time he was done, Ema had lost all hope of being able to follow now and she cursed her own ineptitude as she pulled out on the road but Fate was on her side. For some reason, Deston had stopped a few cars ahead and had pulled up. Ema almost panicked — what could she do? She couldn't stop because that would look too obvious and she couldn't go on because one can't exactly follow someone behind you — but she managed to get a grip just in time and turned left. She could loop around the block until he moved — and she hoped he would move soon. This prayer, too, was answered as upon her 3 round, Deston had began to move and she pulled in just around to corner to see his car going left. She followed him all the while making sure there were at least two cars between her car and his. In her concentration, Ema almost missed a red traffic light while nearly colliding with another driver. She ignored them however because she was far too preoccupied making sure she never lost sight of Deston. It was, therefore, a little disappointing and anti-climactic when Deston stopped outside Hickfield Clinic. Ema stopped a few feet away but she watched as he got out of his car and jogged inside out of view before following after him a few minutes later.

Ema didn't need to follow Deston himself nor did she need to ask anyone where he'd gone. All she had to do was follow the whispers and giggling of the women and the direction in which they looked for her to realise which way he was headed. A Gavinners always left behind a trail. So it didn't take long for her to realise which room he was in. She edged forward slowly and saw the door open which made the eavesdropping that followed a hell of a lot easier.

"Thanks, Deston." A hoarse female voice. Ema frowned — she didn't recognise it.

"No problem, babe," Deston said and Ema's frown deepened at the smile she heard in it. It was an interesting contrast to the scorn and hatred she'd heard earlier. "How are you feeling today?"

"A little better," the mystery woman replied. If she was better and she sounded this bad, Ema wondered what she must be like on a bad day.

"You look better," Deston said.

"Thank you for the generous lie," she laughed gently.

Ema wished she could take a look at the woman.

"It's no lie, Tess. You always look amazing." His voice was so genuine that for a second Ema forgot the horrible way he'd been talking about his friend. He really was a devil.

"How's Klavier?" Mystery Tess asked and Ema edged closer to the door frame, pulled by the sound of her voice.

"Still angry," Deston said quietly and Ema rolled her eyes at the fake sadness in his voice. She couldn't believe she'd fallen for this…Well, she could believe it because even now hearing him talk she had a hard time reconciling this Deston with the hateful one.

"I suppose I don't blame him. If I was in his position I would be angry too…" Tess said and Ema raised an eyebrow. Who was she and how did she know Klavier?

"If he would just see you, I think he might forgive. But before he comes to see you, you have to — "

"No, Deston," Tess said gently. "Not yet."

Ema's heart sank. What did all this mean? Was Tess… intimate with Klavier?

"I know that if he just listened to you, just once…" Deston was talking fast now and he sounded frustrated. "Tess, please let me bring him here. Just talk to him! I'm sure if you did he'd understand!"

"Or become even more angry," Tess interrupted calmly. "We've been over this before, Deston."

"But — "

"Please," she said quietly. "Just trust me. This is the best way." Deston growled but said no more and Tess laughed. "Thank you, Des." There was a sound which could have been a grunt and Tess laughed again. "You're such a sulker, hon." Her laughter turned into a cough that only seemed to get worse and worse. She heard Deston rushing about inside and verbally comforting the woman while Ema listened on in silence.

She was quite shocked. First at the prison and now this. Why had she never heard of this Tessa who was clearly attached romantically to Klavier? He was so well known, how could no journalist have found out about something like this? Even at their workplace there was not even a hint of her, no picture of her on his desk, no mention of her from Klavier… Ema supposed it was because Tessa was sick. Maybe he wanted her to enjoy her peace and quiet. However, from the sound of things, it seemed as though they'd had a falling out. Ema wanted to know what it was; it made her feel somewhat… hopeful. Which was ridiculous. Why should she care? His love life was his private affair… although it did explain a lot. But they were talking again and Ema had to focus.

"How are Raoul and Seren?"

Ema frowned. Those names sounded familiar… Oh right. Raoul Adagio and Seren Aded. The other two Gavinners members. This was the second time she'd heard their names… Was it a coincidence? Ema didn't know what to make of it.

"They're good," Deston answered. "They've been…"

Ema's ears picked up another sound.

Footsteps.

Headed towards where she was hiding.

She looked back and forth between the exit and the door that led into Tessa's room. What to do? If she remained standing here she'd be caught, which could blow her cover. With one last look at the exit from where the sound of the footsteps was coming from, Ema stepped forward and peeked inside the room with a knock on the door. Deston was lounging in a chair facing the woman in bed. He turned around to look at her and a bright smile lit his face as he jumped up.

"Ema!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Ema hesitated for a split second. "I brought Phoenix in for his check up — you know, from when Meraktis almost ran him over — and I heard someone say you were in. I thought I'd say hi."

"I'm glad you did," he said enthusiastically laying a hand on her back and moving her forward. "I wanted you to meet Tess anyway." He looked at Tessa with a huge smile. "This is Ema."

"Hello Ema."

She smiled. Ema finally got a good look at the woman at last. Her eyes were big and blue and innocent, her golden hair cascaded around her on the pillow making her look like an angel and when she smiled, she looked like the sun had risen. Ema wondered how a woman could be so ill as she obviously was and still look so amazing.

Imagine what she looks like healthy

"I've heard so much about you," Tess said holding out a hand and Ema took it in hers while raising an eyebrow at Deston.

"You have?" she asked, surprised.

"Oh yes," Tessa said. "Des has told me all about you." The man in question was beckoning for Ema to take a seat and she did so without a word. He, himself, leant against the wall next to her before Tessa patted the empty space near her legs. "Come sit here," she said to him and he complied.

"I hope he's been saying good things," Ema said only half joking.

"Oh yes," Tessa said. "He's praised you to high heaven. I feel like we're best friends already!"

Ema raised her eyebrow at him and smirked. "Well, well," she said. "You'll have to tell me what he said."

"Yes, well — Ema, where's Mr Wright? I thought you said he was with you?" Deston interrupted hastily while Tessa giggled. Ema paused.

"He met a friend and they decided to go for coffee." She replied smoothly, quite proud of herself for her swift thinking. Deston questioned her a bit more and they all fell into easy conversation. Tessa was a sweet woman, Ema found — and that was a high compliment from the detective. She usually found women annoying at best but Tessa was so blatantly genuine and sweet it was difficult not to like her. Her and Deston appeared very close and seemed to care a great deal about one another. However, Ema was no longer taken in by Deston's charming behaviour — she had seen what lurked beneath the pretty face. And what she had discovered was very ugly indeed.