'I may only be given but never bought. Sinners seek me but saints do not.'


The GCPD was in full swing by the time Susan arrived for work, officers were stood around holding coffee mugs looking gormless and lost in the absence of Jim Gordon who was still evading them; Susan sighed at the sight of them all, complete idiots without their pillar to support them, well, more like take the weight of their lazy asses. Susan pushed through the crowds carrying a delivery that had been left in the lobby of the station for her, anyone could have stolen it, there were important computer parts inside, or it could have been a bomb for all they'd known, they'd just left it sat there unattended for god knows how many hours.

Susan looked around the GCPD to see if she could catch a glimpse of Edward but he wasn't around, probably tied up in his office or the forensics lab with important work, more important than hanging about waiting for her to arrive at work, she imagined he was still upset with her about the discovery of Khalish in her apartment yesterday morning. Susan winced at the thought of how it had looked, herself barely covered, a man there Edward didn't know, the painful atmosphere that had passed between them and of course the fact that Susan had only just moved back to the city, how could she have known someone so quickly even if there was a valid explanation? To the riddle man of the GCPD who was used to worked with suspicious cases this probably equated to something upsetting but completely off the mark

The filing annex was empty when she arrived, she set the box down on the table and slumped down in the chair staring at the blank screen deciding what to do with today's eight hour shift, right now she didn't feel like doing anything at all but she had to get motivated somehow. Susan rubbed her eyes and shook her head trying to get Edward out of her mind but she couldn't, his final goodnight the evening they'd had dinner still lingered in her mind, such confidence in those deep drown eyes, eyes that she could feel looking right into her pressing deeper until she could feel it in her core. Those eyes of his had been so much different to the ones she'd witnessed yesterday, those eyes had been worrisome and jealous, dangerous and exciting. Which Edward was it to be that she wanted to look at her like that again?

The morning wore on and Susan got bored of waiting for a visit, he'd usually arrived by now but every time the door had opened she'd jumped up in her seat and then slumped back to discover it was just one of the officers, where was he? Susan decided to take matters into her own hands, she'd have to, she owed him more of an explanation than what she had given him the previous day at the door briefly. Susan made two cups of coffee and headed out into the department to look for him on her ten minute break, she didn't have long so she would have to use her time very carefully. There were only a couple of places where he could be, out here in the main department, at his desk or in the forensics lab. The department was still full of officers, no bespectacled man to be found here so she climbed up a metal staircase and tried his desk, empty also; Susan swallowed hard, she would have to go to the forensics lab, she'd been trying to avoid that place as much as possible, the place made her feel sick.

Susan knocked on the glass door and waited a moment, there was no sound from within and she couldn't see anything through the obscured glass, maybe he wasn't there or maybe he hadn't heard her, or worse, wasn't answering on purpose - her outline would be distinct to anyone within. "Edward," Susan said pushing the door open and looking inside, the place seemed empty however instead of shutting the door and leaving she felt compelled to enter, some morbid curiosity coming over her as she saw something lying on the table, it was a body.

Leaving the door slightly ajar so that she could make a quick exit if she had to she placed the two coffee mugs on a table near the door and folded her arms tightly around her, it was so cold in here but what did she expect, the stench would have been unbearable if the place were even slightly warm. Susan remembered her dream as she crept over to the table and tried to push it from her mind, the heady smell of chlorine and formaldehyde mixed together overpoweringly, smells she associated with Edward, she could smell them faintly on him sometimes when he came to visit her at work but the smells had eluded him over the weekend replaced with a discreet cologne that might have just been his natural scent.

There it was, only a few feet away, the cadaver of some poor soul, laid out with the black bag zipped open down to its sternum, Susan could clearly see now that it was a young woman and she stifled a whimper in her throat with her hand over he mouth, this was just like her dream, the woman was a blueish tinge, her eyes glazed over staring at the ceiling, covered in lacerations and bruises as much as she could see on the body, my god this was horrific but at the same time so fascinating.
Susan had never seen a dead body in her life but she couldnt tare her eyes away as she stood beside the lifeless woman, no, a young girl, a girl with dirty wet matted blonde hair not much younger than herself. Susan felt disgustingly compelled to touch the girls skin to see how it felt now that life had left the body, she leaned over one hand jerkily moving towards the corpses forearm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said from the other side of the room scaring Susan half to death and making her scream, heart pounding she looked over to see Edward perched on the side of the table near the door wearing his grey lab coat holding one of the coffee mugs in his hand.
"Edward!" She acclaimed trying to catch her breath, "God you nearly gave me a hear attack."

"Tampering with evidence is highly frowned upon within the department you know." Edward retorted drinking his coffee but continuing to gaze at Susan in her nervous state, that had been a thrill, watching her morality fight against her curiosity and seeing which would win. Curiosity, surprising, Susan might have a dark side after all.
"How long have you been sat there?" Susan asked clearing her throat and trying to compose herself.

"Long enough to know you were about two inches away from losing your job and getting a court summons." Edward grinned and then it faded away quickly, he'd far from forgotten about yesterday. "What are you doing here? Thinking about getting into forensics?"

Susan smirked at his choice of words, "Something like that," she said under her breath before speaking up. "Actually I came to see you."

"Oh?" Edward smiled cocking his head to the side as he did when something intrigued or amused him, "And why is that?"

"I haven't seen you around today, I thought you might be avoiding me." Susan admitted clasping her hands together and wringing her fingers feeling her cheeks burn, she hoped they wouldn't be reddening but in this cold she very much doubted it.

Edward laughed at her words, they were a mock laugh, "Of course not," he lied picking up her cup and holding it out to her, "I've been working on an important case, I just haven't had time to get to you yet."

Edward had been avoiding her, he'd seen her come in in the morning and look around searching, unusual Susan behaviour as she usually just walked straight in to her station in the filing annex, he knew because he'd waited every morning since her first day to watch her come in; he'd watched her from afar, looking up from her desk at various points of the morning, sighing, daydreaming, unable to concentrate, wrestling with her weak will and then eventually taking the initiative to go and find him. At first he'd hidden out of view whenever she'd come close to finding him and had pretty much given her no option left but to try in here with the freshly lain out body he'd set there.

It had all been a test to see how Susan would react being faced with death and he had found it so pleasurable to find out that her curiosity might even match his own, one wrong move and she could be playing dangerous games. The psyche was a fragile thing, easily tampered with, the mind bent until broken and then reformed.

"I feel somehow like I owe you an apology." Susan said reaching for the mug her held out, Susan's fingers slipped between his own and at first she thought he wasn't going to let it go but he released slowly sliding, almost dragging, his long fingers out through hers. "For yesterday." Susan wanted to say more but she found her voice gone as she watched him raise from the desk and move in towards her, Susan's heart was racing and her breathing heavy, cheeks burning. 'Kiss me.' She thought to herself lingering her eyes on his grinning mouth not daring to look in his eyes. 'God damn it Edward, just kiss me.' She begged in her mind willing him to hear.
'Excessive blinking, dilated pupils, no eye contact, thighs pressed together, dopamine and oxytocin levels rising, breathing heavier, heart rate elevated.' Edward thought to himself, 'She's waiting for you to move in. One kiss won't damage the game.'

"I am just two and two." Edward started to say slowly and watched as Susan's eyes finally met his, darting across his face trying to figure him out, "I am hot. I am cold. I am the parent of numbers that cannot be told. I am a gift beyond measure, a matter of course. I am given with pleasure when taken by force." He said looking over her face, cheeks flushed, lips part ed, body almost quivering, she was really into this type of teasing.

A riddle... Was this how it would start? Susan already knew the answer but dare she speak it, dare she set the wheels in motion? Edward was waiting and she knew that he knew that she knew the answer.

"Kiss." Susan let the word escape from her mouth and saw him lean forward his nose an inch away from hers, smiling, his breath hot on her exposed collar bone between her white shirt.

"Correct." Edward grinned as he moved in and his lips connected with hers soft and gently, he could feel her trembling frame from his well planned seduction through that light delicate innocent little kiss, he didn't even have to lay a hand on her to tell how needy she was for him already.

There was a noise outside the forensics office and Susan pulled away afraid that they were going to be caught, she looked at Edward whose eyes heavy and dark after the kiss, she kiss still feel it against her tingling lips and she wanted to do it again but the noises outside and Edward's smug grin as he bit the corner of his bottom lip made her flustered and she fled from the lab.

Edward chuckled to himself, how sweet it would be now he had taken the first step into her mind, now he could break her down and build her back up again so she couldn't live without him; use her up and let her go, after all he'd have to, he'd learnt his lesson before.

A beautiful woman was a dangerous thing.