Sorry for the delay. Some rather unfortunate events have happened on my campus the past week and everything has been hectic, and I haven't spent much time writing. Luckily more people were not hurt, but keep them in your thoughts.

Over the steady hum of people arguing and clambering through GCPD, Bree's music played quietly in her little corner of the world. She caught a looming presence over her desk in the corner of her eye, and her lips twitched into a smirk.

"What do you got, Ed?" she remarked casually.

"Don't vex me, mortal," he chimed. Bree paused, furrowing her brows before looking up from her work and was met with his grinning face.

"Excuse, me?" she said, resting her chin on her hand.

"That's supposedly what the man said, before drinking a few gallons of milk, and stealing an ATM," he continued.

"Sorry, I'm going to need a bit more context than that," she said with a small snort of laughter.

"Oh…well, this morning Detective Gordon and Detective Bullock checked in on a drug store robbery, and supposedly the man was strung out on some sort of mystery drug," he began excitedly, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose, "And the man apparently drank a gallon of milk, and then ripped out an ATM with his bare hands!" Edward finished, his arms gesturing dramatically.

Bree's hand clamped over her mouth, stifling a laugh.

"And you didn't make this up?" she choked out in a laugh. Ed shook his head, grinning.

"What is it with this town and their mystery drugs?" She waved, grabbing her cup of coffee. "Don't vex me, mortal," she smiled, "Can I get that on my tombstone?"

"I'm not quite sure…it would be a bit ironic though, hmm?"

"Yeah, for sure…..so how on earth did that guy rip out an ATM?" she asked, looking up at him from her cup. Edward gave an exaggerated shrug.

"Not a clue! However, I would very much like to know!" he said smiling. He leaned in a bit closer. "Shall we….do a little investigating?" he added quietly, his eyes crinkling with excitement.

Bree returned a smile sadly, her hand running itself through her messy hair.

"I don't know Ed….maybe we should sit this one out. This could be pretty dangerous and we just finished the last one a few days ago…" she said, and edge of uncertainty creeping into her voice.

Ed's expression slowly fell, his smile drifting from his lips.

"The last one was dangerous too," he said pointedly. Bree nodded.

"I know…but that's just it. If we got in over our heads we wouldn't have anyone to back us up, and even if we did call GCPD, we could lose our jobs…" Bree sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, just give me a few more days. I'm still a little shaken from the whole Roberts thing. I'm not saying you shouldn't look into it, I'm just saying I don't want either of us to get hurt by some drugged out psycho," she said, meeting his eyes.

His lips pressed tightly together as he gave a stiff nod. He held his little brown notebook against his chest and pushed his up his glasses. Eventually he looked up, meeting her gaze, disappointment clear in his eyes.

"Ed…"

"It's okay, it's fine…" he said with a tight smile.

"I'm just trying to make sure you don't do anything—"

"I said it was fine!" Ed interrupted, meeting her surprised eyes for a moment before swallowing stiffly, and taking his leave.

Bree blinked a few times as she watched him leave, her brows furrowed together.

"What's his problem today?" she mumbled to herself, looking back down at her daily stack of papers.

/

A few hours later, Bree stood from her desk with a sigh. She reached down as she felt an insistent buzzing in her pocket.

"Hello," she chimed as she flipped open her phone.

"Hey, Bree! We're still on for lunch, right?" a familiar female voice rang over the line. Bree stopped and nearly tripped down the stairs as she finished shrugging on her coat and held the phone to her ear.

"Oh, wow, Jess, I totally forgot," she said, feeling the need to bop herself on the head for being such and idiot, "Just give me fifteen minutes, I'll be right there!"

She heard a laugh over the line.

"Typical, see you soon!" Jessica said before the line went dead.

The sudden cold on her cheeks nearly left her breathless as Bree pushed open the doors to GCPD. She hurried down the sidewalk and made her way down to the street. Luckily, her favorite coffee shop was not far from GCPD, and for that matter, not far from the one Edward had shown her. It was larger than most of the coffee shops in the area, and typically was swarmed with local college students. A small bell jingled softly as Bree pushed on the wooden frame of the glass door. The name Spot's reflected dully on the door in fifties stylized lettering. She was greeted with the wafting scent of ground coffee and burgers.

She meandered up to the register and placed her order, taking her coffee cup and scanning the restaurant. She smiled as she saw Jessica's head stooped low over her laptop, typing wildly.

"Jessica," Bree chimed, grinning as Jessica's head popped up, meeting her with wide eyes.

"Bree!" she said hopping up and nearly knocking her over with a hug.

"Whoa, easy there!" Bree chuckled as Jessica released her and slid back into the booth. Jessica released a long sigh, brushing her bangs out of her face.

"I swear, Bree, college is going to be the death of me," she groaned, plopping her head down onto the large wooden table. "I have two thousand more words to write before midnight," she said despairingly, her words muffled by the wood.

"No one said it was going to be this much work…"

Bree gave a low chuckle.

"Now you're getting it…" she said, patting Jessica on the shoulder as she stood back up. "Be right back, I'm going to grab some coffee."

Bree moved to the small station where the pre-made coffee resided. She hummed lightly as she filled her cup, dumping in an abundance of cream and sugar.

I really should cut back on the coffee, she mused as she stirred her concoction. Her eyes flickered across the counter.

Dammit, they're out of lids. She thought with a mental sigh and whipped around to move back to her table. She slammed into something and the coffee sloshed into a solid object. Her jaw dropped in dismay as she looked up at the figure she had run into, his nice suit now splattered with coffee, and his own coffee splattered onto her and on the floor.

"Oh my God….I am so sorry," Bree muttered breathlessly, wincing as she felt the burn of the hot coffee on her own skin. She looked up at the tall figure with wide eyes, frozen to the spot. He stared back at her with almost mirrored surprise, regarding her with large brown eyes. She stared like a deer in the headlights. His nice suit and neatly coiffed hair exuded an air of importance.

"Oh….errmmh.." She sputtered as she reached back and set her cup down on the counter, and then grabbed a handful of napkins, and awkwardly patted his suit. She met his eyes and to her surprise he smiled, gently prying the now soggy napkin from her grasp.

"It's alright," he said, reassuringly, smiling. She grabbed a few more napkins.

"I feel so bad. That suit looks nice, I really should have looked first," Bree said, blinking as she stumbled over another apology and handed him the napkins. She glanced back up at him as he caught her hand.

"I said, it's alright." He said again, flashing another smile. She shifted awkwardly as he took the napkins from her and released her hand. He patted down the front of the suit. "It's not too noticeable," he ventured amiably, "Nothing that won't wash out."

Bree nodded politely, wiping off her coffee cup with a small smile.

"The name's Harvey, by the way, Harvey Dent," he said, extending his hand. Bree hesitantly reached her hand out and shook his.

"Sorry, my hand's a bit….sticky from the coffee," she laughed, and she heard him chuckle.

"Oh, I'm Brianna Taylor, but you can just call me Bree…" she said, glancing back down at her slightly torn cup.

"Well, Bree, how about….I buy you a new cup of coffee?"

"Oh, no, I'm just fine. If anything, I owe you one," she said with a light smile. He reached into his pocket.

"Alright then, how about this: heads I buy you a new cup, tails you buy me one," he said, producing a coin from his pocket with a charismatic grin. She couldn't help but laugh and she gave a shrug as she nodded.

"Okay, but I can't be gone long. My friend other there will start to worry," she quipped.

He flicked the coin into the air and caught it in his palm before turning it onto the back of his hand.

"Oh, look, heads. Looks like I'm going to be the one buying you coffee," he said, flashing a dazzling smile. Bree let out a short laugh.

"Alright," she said shaking her head as she tossed her broken cup into the trash.

He came back a moment later, a nicer latte in his hand.

"Thanks, but once again I really think I should have bought you the coffee."

"Ah, ah, ah," he said, pointing upward, "Fate has spoken," he finished.

"It's nice to meet you, Bree, but I've got to run," he said flashing another smile as he waved. She waved back, standing there stupidly, trying to process what had just happened. She blinked for a moment, holding her coffee, before she realized Jessica was still waiting for her in the booth. When she slid back into the booth, facing Jessica, she was silent and simply covered her face with her hands.

Suddenly Jessica burst into laughter.

"Oh, god, what was that?" she said between giggles. "He was cute."

"I do have to say, I give myself in A+ in awkward interactions," Bree muttered mutely into her hands.

"Is that his number?" Jessica said, pointing to the cup. Bree furrowed her brows, her hands dropping from her face.

"What? No, what are you—"she paused and turned the cup around, seeing a sequence of numbers written on the back, "You've got to be kidding me."

Jessica grinned.

"You should give him a call, he seemed pretty interested."

"You know I don't do that sort of stuff, guys are so needy," Bree laughed. "And emotions are gross."

"Because god forbid you have a human connection," Jessica added with a smile.

"Hey, I can do connections just fine, thank you very much, but work and school keeps me busy," Bree shrugged, staring at the lid of her coffee cup.

"How is work, by the way? I bet GCPD gets a little crazy sometimes."

"Oh, it does I suppose….but I mostly just do some paperwork, run errands," she took a sip of her drink, "….solve cold cases…" she added quietly under her breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" Jessica sputtered, nearly spitting out her drink.

"Run errands?"

"No, after that," Jessica shook her head.

"It's nothing, really. A coworker of mine and I just sometimes look over old cases…it's just a bit of fun really, to keep us occupied when it gets slow," Bree said with a long exhale of breath. It wasn't a complete lie, but she didn't want Jessica to spend any time worrying about her.

"Oh, that sounds interesting! So you're making some friends in the precinct?"

Bree couldn't help but to smile.

"Oh, yeah, well….mostly just one. Everyone else just uses me for errands and such," she waved dismissively. "His name's Edward, and while he's a bit of a character, I think you would like him a lot. He's out there, but in a good way," she added, resting her head against her hand as she grinned lazily, her finger tracing the top of her coffee lid.

"I think someone has a crush."

"What? No…. I just…like spending time with him, he's fun," Bree said with another light shrug.

"Okay…just be careful. We both know you aren't as emotionless as you're trying to seem," Jessica said with a small smirk as she brushed her bangs out of her face. Bree plopped her head down against the wooden table with a groan.

"I know," her muffled voice rang despondently, "Ugghh…people."

Jessica leaned forward, her chin resting on her hands.

"So, Kingdom Hearts game, and Labyrinth movie night tomorrow night?" she said.

"You are so on."

/

The next day, all hell broke loose in GCPD.

The viper drug seemed to have been vastly distributed throughout the streets overnight. Bree had to practically dodge drugged out arrestees as she bolted to the relative safety of her desk on the second floor. She was very hesitant to glance over the railing of the stairs and watch several officers wrestling a viper-strung prostitute to the ground.

"It's fascinating, isn't it?"

Bree half-jumped as Edward suddenly appeared, looming over her shoulder. She spun around and faced him.

"Jeeze, you scared me!" she said, looking up at him as he straightened up his posture.

"My, apologies," he said, clasping his hands together, "However, it's all quite exciting, dont'cha think?"

Bree glanced back over her shoulder at the chaos downstairs, and back to him.

"I suppose exciting would be an adequate word for it," she said with a slightly anxious laugh, "…but you seem to be enjoying yourself…" she mused, her eyes flickering across his clearly amused face as he watched the officers struggle to maintain control over the precinct. He smiled, his eyes glimmering as they met hers.

"I must admit it is all a bit fun," he said with a small chuckle, "however, what is most intriguing is just how the viper serum works on the victims."

"Yeah, what's up with the whole super strength thing?" she commented, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well," he began excitedly, "Somehow the drug makes the user's body burn calcium from their bones as an energy source, which gives them an extra boost of energy and a sense of euphoria. However, their body needs more calcium, hence their extreme craving for dairy products, but they can never consume enough. So, they eventually burn themselves out, their skeletons collapse, and they die!"

"You are very excited about that…" she noted, her head tilted questioningly.

"Well, of course I am, it's amazing! No one has ever seen anything like this before. It's fascinating."

Despite herself, Bree couldn't help but to smile at his excitement. She pushed the yells and sounds of chaos downstairs to the back of her minds.

"So, do you have any idea who could have produced this kind of stuff?"

"Oh, it would take a very sophisticated lab to produce this form of compound. Just a minute ago I sent Detective Bullock and Detective Gordon in the direction of the chemical company, WelZyn. They're known for having the most state of the art facilities in Gotham," Edward stated, moving and leaning over the rail next to her.

"So, we just wait to see what happens?" Bree said quietly. Edward flashed a knowing smile.

"Not having any regrets about not investigating the case, are we?" he chuckled softly, giving her a sidelong glance.

"No…"

"You don't sound so certain about that," Ed pressed, nudging her with his shoulder. She gave an exasperated sigh.

"I needed a rest, so I don't regret that. I just…don't like sitting on the sidelines."

Edward was quiet for a moment, pensively tapping on the railing. Bree chewed on her lip a moment before she spoke up.

"Are you….alright? You were acting a bit snappy yesterday," she said, turning towards him. He was oddly silent again, but she saw his jaw clench as he pushed off the rail and looked at her. She sighed at his silence.

"Edward, seriously, what's wrong?" she said. He seemed to fidget uncomfortably for a moment before speaking up.

"I-I've just been trying to talk to someone…"

Bree's face lit up, her brows rising.

"Wait….oh….wow," she said, a smile slowly stretching across her face, "Who?"

Edward shrugged nervously, giving a small smile.

"Her name is Kristen….Kristen Kringle," he said giggling lightly. Bree's smile twitched downward slightly, but she continued to smile politely. He didn't seem to notice.

"She works down in record keeping," Edward continued, smiling.

"Oh, wow, office romance. That's crazy," she laughed. He nodded, looking at the floor as he grinned.

"Well, statistically it's just as plausible as any other method of relationship building," he said with a stiff shrug. Bree began to meander back towards her desk, Edward trailing behind her.

"I suppose so," she relented, her fingers brushing the side of her desk as she plopped down in her seat. "Oh, umm…listen, I won't be here for the next few days this next week."

Edward's smile fell.

"Really, why?"

"I have to stay home and work on my thesis…"

"Oh…alright." He said, his tone slightly less chipper. She smiled.

"Think you can hold down the fort without me?" she laughed. A light smile twitched upon his lips once more.

"I shall try to manage," he quipped, turning to leave.

Bree sat quietly at her desk, tapping idly on the wood. She stared at yesterday's coffee cup still perched on the edge of her desk. The numbers glared at her in neat scrawl across the side of the cup. Her hand twitched toward it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

She dialed the number.

As usual, some delay, but I'm trying to savor the material we have, if you will. I can't believe the finale is coming up this next Monday! I'm not totally caught up with the show, but I want to leave enough room to work with, should things get a little dicey after the finale. I will still try to update regularly. An Ed-centric chapter is on its way!

Thank you all for such amazing reviews!

March Glen: I'm glad you thought so! I wanted to really make it clear that Bree is still very vulnerable, and despite having trained her whole life with her father, mistakes still happen. That, and she isn't even a proper cop.

Jessie Ann: I did want to make Ed's sort of isolation in home life more evident, at least from what I know from the comics. I feel like he's the sort of guy who has a hard time making the connections, but when they are there he latches on and won't let go.

Hannibal Not the Cannibal: Wow that is the best possible compliment a writer in my standing can achieve. I'm trying to make her as real as a can, so their relationship is more plausible.