Alright, readers. It is exam week for me. However, here is my gift to you wonderful people, creatures, or whatever you prefer to identify as. I don't discriminate. Enjoy.

A chill jolted through his spine as another whip of cool wind danced across the rooftop. Edward clutched his pen and notebook closer with a shiver from the brisk Gotham air.

"Morning Capt'n," he chimed with a nod.

"Morning, Ed," Essen replied with little enthusiasm as she remained mostly turned towards Bullock and Gordon. Edward offered a thin smile.

"The more you cut me, the bigger I grow; what am I?"

Bullock groaned, throwing his head back in exasperation.

"We're on a roof top Nygma, don't tempt me…"

"A hole…I'm a hole," he relented, his teeth grinding restlessly as another shiver racked though his body.

"Okay!—Relevance?" Essen snapped, holding a hand up.

"Well, there's a hole; a surgical incision, in our victim's abdomen, certainly post-mortem. My guess—killer was looking for something. I'll have to examine the body more fully back in the lab—"

"You mean the medical examiner will," she corrected abruptly. Edward blinked in surprise, but continued.

"Well, but—"

"You handle forensics, Ed. The bodies belong to Dr. Guerra. He has made formal complaints, I can't cover for you anymore!"

He stared at her for a moment, gauging her reaction. He offered another tight smile.

"I read you ma'am…Loud and clear."

As he turned away from the group his smile dissipated.

The bodies belong to Dr. Guerra.

He scoffed. As if that buffoon knew the first thing about investigation. It wouldn't take much to sneak into the examination room behind Guerra's back, the man simply had no sense.

Edward hummed quietly to himself as he looked down at the corpse stretched atop the metal table. He flexed his gloved hands before prodding at the opening in the corpse. With a slight grimace, he slid his hand inside, almost mindlessly prodding for vital organs.

The killer must have been looking for something.

"Find what's missing, find the motive…." He muttered, his eyes drifting to the ceiling. He inwardly sighed as his gaze drifted across the room and rested on Guerra's nameplate by the door.

His lips tugged into a frown. While Arnold Flass was no longer a problem, (thanks to Detective Gordon for that matter) having been arrested for murder, Guerra seemed to have become the primary antagonizing force for him at the precinct.

Things would be much easier if he were to simply…..leave.

Of course it wouldn't solve all of his problems, but it certainly could lessen the load of burden. Sometimes it would be easier to find a scapegoat for his other vexing issues. His movements stilled as a certain short haired blonde drifted into his mind. It was different with it short, or maybe she seemed different? He shook his head. He began to move his fingers but paused as he prodded an empty pocket.

That's it.

His lips stretched into a smile at the discovery, and glanced to his side, almost expecting Bree to be standing beside him, he arms folded across her chest and that lopsided grin on her face.

He missed that grin.

His heart faltered at the sound of the door swinging open.

"There, see! I told you!"

"Ohhhhh…..oh dear…" he muttered, more to himself than to the newfound company.

"Get your hand out of that corpse….now," Captain Essen ordered in a low tone, trailing in behind Guerra. Edward gaped at them in near horror, slowly withdrawing his hand. It was as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Except….the cookie jar is a corpse

And Guerra and Essen are the parental figures.

He shook his head.

Horrible example.

"I was just passing by, and I umm…ehhhh I-I was just curious," he sputtered, "Ah….hahaha" he chuckled nervously throwing his arms up in a dramatic shrug, his arms moving of their own accord.

"What was I thinking?" he added, before gently smacking his forehead, a smudge of blood splattering onto his face, "I—sorry. It won't happen again—promise!"

"Do something about this, or I'm going over your head," Guerra said in a near growl, shooting Essen a stern look, "I'm the medical examiner!...Not this…chippering loon!"

That man is like a child throwing a tantrum.

Edward stood in mortified silence as Essen's arms remained crossed tightly across her chest as she nearly rolled her eyes and shot Ed an apologetic glance.

"I'm sorry, Ed…till further notice you are suspended."

"Finally," Guerra remarked before turning and swiftly exiting the room. Captain Essen's jaw clenched slightly as she avoided Edward's helpless gaze. She held up her hand and quietly exited the room.

Ed gaped, his bloodied, gloved hands falling limply to his sides as he stared at the empty doorway.

"….but I found something," he said quietly to no one in particular.

Edward hovered over his desk, his figures idly sprawled over its almost empty surface. A small cardboard box sat lonely on the expanse of wood, filled with little knickknacks and a few notebooks that made up the extent of his belongings. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat as disappointment tugged sharply in his chest. This couldn't be the end, could it?

Not that anyone here would care.

His fingers drew into a fist, his knuckles turning white. He shook his head. Perhaps it was not completely true…

He reached into his box and picked up a small nub of wood that perhaps had been a pencil at one point. He twirled it between his thumb and forefinger for a moment, drawing it closer to his face in examination.

Yes. He knew what he had to do.

His feet seemed to move of their own accord as he made his way down to the file annex. His stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing the sweet strawberry blond again, even if it was for the last time. He steadied his hand from shaking as he reached the frosted glass door of the annex. The door drifted open and he allowed it to fall shut behind him.

"Miss Kringle…" he began warily, arms latched together behind his back, "I came to tell you that I've—" he trailed off, eyes flickering down to her face.

"Have…you been crying?" he asked softly, genuine concern creeping into his voice.

"No…I-I'm fine," she said, he pony-tail swinging as she quickly climbed to her feet. She wiped her face as she swiftly turned and walked to her desk.

"But I can see tears, on your face," he remarked, approaching the desk.

How could she say she was not crying? Did she underestimate his ability of observation?

"Is it because your friend Detective Flass was arrested?"

Kringle stiffened, not meeting his eyes as she pretended to shuffle the papers on her desk. She gave a quick sniff.

"What do you need, Mr. Nygma?"

"Yes…." He shuffled nervously, "I've been suspended….and won't be seeing you anymore," he said with a hard swallow, his eyes flickering down, back to her face, then down again.

Wow, she is distractingly beautiful…

"So, I wanted to return this pencil," he said, bringing his arm forward to reveal the pathetically stump-like scrap of wood that may have one point identified as a pencil. "I took it from your office some time ago and kept meaning to return it…..Used to be longer."

She blinked, staring at it a moment before carefully taking it from his grasp, her eyes not leaving the stump-pencil.

"You're an odd man Mr. Nygma…"

Edward stood in silence a moment, not really sure how to take her comment.

"….but I'm sorry you've been suspended," Kringle added with a sniff and a light shrug, "I wish something could be done…"

Edward's heart leapt. It was small, but he felt it, like a blossoming warmth in the pit of his stomach. The edges of his lips twitched upward into a small smile as he turned to leave. As he approached the door, he glanced back once more with a larger smile, his shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor as he turned on his heel.

Kristen Kringle.

Kristen, with the eyes like a meadow, and hair strawberry kissed, and her cool exterior behind those horn-rimmed glasses. Sure, she never showed the most warmth at his attempts to charm her, but if he were to be honest with himself, it was part of her allure.

"I don't want to see you hurt by a girl you don't even know…I care about you too much to watch you deal with that."

Ed's satisfied grin faded as Bree's words resounded in his mind.

Bree.

"I care about you too much—"

He froze as it hit him like a hammer to the chest. All of this time—that had been what she had been trying to tell him.

"H-how could I miss it….?" He muttered, hand smacking his forehead and ran through his hair. It all made so much more sense! Her snappiness and cryptic statements, it all made sense.

She cared.

Kirsten was an alluring conundrum in a pencil skirt. Poised, intellectual, and refreshing as cool rain shower. But Bree…..she was a sizzling ember, warm and comforting, but scalding. An equal and opposite, a partner. Her biting wit, and insatiable curiosity, hair like a lion's mane and steel in her veins. There was no hiding from her. She cut through it all. She saw him. And it was terrifying.

But despite seeing him, she still cared.

And I hurt her.

He thought with a stiff swallow.

He needed to fix this.

He found her by the copying machine, balancing a cup of coffee atop a stack of papers.

"Bree!" he called out, shuffling beside her, his hands latched together behind his back.

Her eyes widened for a moment as she looked up and nearly spilt the coffee. It may have been his imagination, but he could have sworn he caught a smile on her lips before she flattened them into a nearly stoic expression.

"Oh….Ed," she said evenly.

She sounded like everyone else at the precinct. The thought pulled painfully at his chest. He forced a tight smile offered a curt nod.

Her eyes flickered across his face for a moment before she frowned.

"What's wrong?"

He blinked, taken aback by her inquiry. His smile fell abruptly.

"W-what do you mean? How did you….?"

"You did that thing with your lips and…." Her eyes fluttered shut as her brows furrowed. She quickly shook her head, "..nevermind, what do you need?"

His mouth hung loosely for a moment, desperately searching for the words he had tirelessly rehearsed in his mind. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he looked down.

"Well…..a few things; two to be exact."

Bree placed the coffee and papers on the table beside her. Her arms folded across her chest as her eyes met his.

"Go on."

"I can bring back the dead; make you cry, make you laugh, make you young; I am born in an instant yet last a life time. What am I?"

He saw the gears turning behind her widened eyes, causing the edges of his lips play upward into a small smile. It made her look so delicate.

So unlike her.

"Memories…?" she offered in that uncertain tone she always seemed to adopt when answering his riddles. It was almost as if she thought he would scold her for an incorrect answer, he mused. His smile grew as he nodded.

"And the memories that we've created are some of the few good ones I have left…..and I still think we need more," he said carefully, gauging her reaction. She blinked and he wasn't sure if it was a trick of lighter, but he swore he saw her lip quiver for the briefest moment. A wisp of hair fell into her face and she made no move to fix it.

"I'm sorry….. I never wanted to hurt you," his throat bobbed as he swallowed stiffly, his eyes raising. "Last time we spoke…did you…..mean to tell me that you care for me?" he said at a near whisper.

She said nothing for a long moment and avoided his gaze.

"You know the answer to that question, genius."

His mouth fell ajar for a long pause. She met his eyes once more with newfound boldness. It was as if the wind had been knocked out of him and words he meant to say just evaporated into nothing.

"…right…."

"So…..what was number two?" she offered, a wry humor sneaking back into her tone. She gave a small smile.

His stomach dropped once more at the dreadful reminder of his current predicament.

"I…I've been suspended until further notice."

Bree's smile vanished.

"Wait, what? What happened?"

"It would seem Dr. Guerra was unsympathetic to my superior examination skills…" he half-mumbled. Her eyes lit up with understanding.

"Oh no…Ed. That's ridiculous, this is the same guy who called an ice pick to the back a suicide—"

"I know that," he snapped, bitterness creeping into his voice, "But there is nothing that can be done…"

Her brows furrowed together as they held each other's gazes for a long few seconds. She sighed and grabbed his hand, giving it a light squeeze.

"Well….I wish you the best of luck….."

"You too…"

She let her hand fall back to her side and finally their eye contact. She grabbed the papers and stared down at the coffee on the counter, seemingly pondering something.

"And Ed?"

"Yes?"

"I'll miss you….."

And with that, once more he was at a loss for words as she turned and left. His eyes trailed after her as she rounded the corner.

In that moment, he realized he watched her leave a time too many.

I can't leave the precinct. Not like this.

It was so grotesquely simple, and oh so fitting.

All it took was a key to the morgue and quite a large trunk. Oddly enough, no one asked any questions. It seemed as though all of his (rather ingenious) out-of-the-ordinary experiments had paid off. He had mapped the route to a tee, carefully navigating the less traveled back passages of the precinct, and choosing a time statistically least likely for any officer to wander into the men's locker room.

His shoes squeak softly against the marbled floor as he lugs the heavy black case behind him. Its wheels creak in protest under the weight of the load and Ed bit back a loud huff as he stopped and quietly pushed open the door to the locker room.

Despite knowing that no one would be downstairs at this time, he still nearly tip-toed over to the lockers. Propping the case up, he slid onto the wooden bench, hunching over next to Guerra's personal locker. He bit his lip to hold back a giggle as he reached into his pocket and retrieved his small tool kit, and grabbing a small jimmy.

"Almost too easy…" he muttered as the lock clicked under his dexterous maneuvers. He smiled, his glasses glinting under the dim fluorescence as he gave the case a sidelong glance. This time he did giggle.

"I guess I'll just have to give him a hand."

Oh yes, such necessary evils would be sweet revenge.

It hadn't taken long for the plan to unfold. Once set in motion, it was much like an avalanche. Several officers had caught Guerra clutching the planted severed limbs and Captain Essen had been quick to dismiss him. Of course, with that famous expression of hers that masterfully fused confusion, horror, and exasperation.

"Ed, you're reinstated," she said with as little as a wave before she vanished once more. Of course her actions did little to hinder the blossoming joy that sprung into his chest, manifesting in the broad smile illuminating his cheeks.

He reached under his desk and picked up his cardboard box of belongings.

I'll recategorize these later.

He mused as he leapt to his feet and nearly skipped down the stairs, eager to inform Miss Kringle of the good news. As he passes through the floor of the main hall, restless murmurs caught his attention. His eyes trailed to the subject of staring officers.

Oh, Detective Gordon has a lady friend!

Gordon stood beside his desk, kissing the dark haired woman he had seen from before. Quite passionately, from his observation.

Ed beamed, his cheeks taking on a rosy glow as he turned away and sauntered towards the File Annex.

He pushed open the frosted glass door.

"I'm not leaving!" he declared, without so much as a hello, beaming, "After all!"

The strawberry curtain of Kringle's ponytail swayed as her head swiveled up from the file cabinet. She nudged it shut before speaking up.

"…what?"

"It turns out that the medical examiner is leaving, so Captain Essen decided to reinstate me!" he chimed, his hands interlocking behind his back.

"Oh…..okay….good," she said glumly, turning back to her desk. His smile began to fade. He turned stiffly, disheartened by her lack of enthusiasm.

"Mister Nygma…." She pipes up after a moment. Ed practically jumped as he twirled back towards her with a hopeful grin.

"You….owe me a new pencil," she says simply, a small smile playing on her lips.

His heart leapt once more.

He giggled softly as he pivoted back towards the door.

Only one more person to see.

He found her slumped over a stack of papers, idly chewing on the end of her pen as her hand ran through her messy tresses. He found himself smiling at the pure candidacy of the moment.

"Bree!"

Her entire form jumped

"Ow!" she said, swearing under her breath as her knee hit the desk. Her pen dropped from her grasp and her head swiveled around.

"Oh….Ed!" she said with a small chortle, but her smile faded quickly.

"Wait….I thought—"

"That's what I wanted to tell you, come over here!"

Before she barely offered a note of protest he grabbed her hand, pulling her from the swivel chair towards the forensics lab. She nearly tripped trying to keep up with his long strides. He stopped when they both stood in the lab.

"I've been reinstated!" Edward said with a wide grin. She blinked for a moment, processing the information.

"Ed, that's amazing!" she said throwing her arms around him. Before he could wrap his arms around her she was already back where she had been standing. However short, the loss of warmth made him internally sigh.

"I heard about Dr. Guerra being suspended, but I wasn't sure if you had gotten your job back. Speaking of which, isn't that crazy? Sure he was an asshole, but I never really pinned him as the kind of guy to steal body parts."

"It is quite the enigma, isn't it…."

He couldn't help himself. He chuckled inwardly.

"I suppose…." Her eyes narrowed slightly, her lips pouching ever slightly.

Oh dear.

Her eyes remained downcast, but her brows creased together. Ed's face remained placid but he grew rigid.

"It's funny how he happens to get caught just whe—"

"—I'm sure it's nothing!" he broke off her thought with an uneasy laugh. Now her eyes shot up to meet his. He mentally slapped himself.

Well that did the opposite of want I wanted. Now she's suspicious!

"You know…..don't you think it's a bit odd—"

"—No."

"—That Dr. Guerra stored the body parts in his locker?" she continued despite his protests.

"I mean, don't you think there'd be a more effective means to smuggle limbs if he actually wanted to steal them?"

Ed froze and gave a tight smile.

"Well the man is an imbecile…." he offered.

"Still, I th—"

"Gee, did you see Detective Gordon with his lady friend out there?"

"No, I-"

"It was really something!" he laughed airily, " I—"

"Edward!" Bree snapped in annoyance, narrowing her eyes, "You haven't even let me finish a sentence! What's gotten into you?"

He gaped at her a moment, opening his mouth to speak, but quickly shutting it again. His gaze drifted down. He wrung his hands lightly before meeting her eyes. The concern in them drew small smile from the corners of his lips.

"I am just two and two," he began, his smirk growing as a sudden urge sparked inside of him.

" I am hot. I am cold. I'm the parent of numbers that cannot be told. I'm a gift beyond measure, a matter of course. And I'm yielded with pleasure—even taken by force," he said quietly, stepping close to her. She had to crane her neck up to look him in the eye, and she furrowed her brows. He lifted his hand, his fingers ghosting across her cheek.

"What. Am. I.?"

The silence fell thickly between them as she stared at him a moment.

"I don—hmmmf!" she began but was abruptly cut off by Edward's lips pressing against hers.

Her arms flailed for a moment before she seemed to realize what was happening. She froze as he pulled back, his hand that had been on her cheek falling to his side. She gaped at him, speechless as they locked gazes. His heart thumped painfully loud in his chest. He swore the entire precinct could hear it. It echoed in his head, urging him to run.

He didn't. He felt his lips twitch upward in an electric form of anticipation and curiosity. He swallowed hard, but he couldn't completely say it was from nervousness.

Without missing another beat, it was his turn to gasp as she grabbed the lapels of his suit, pulling him forward as she leaned up, pressing her lips to his. His eyes widened as he half-stumbled into her, pressing her back to the wall as he met her lips. He cupped her cheek as his lips moved against hers with fervor.

Her lips are so warm.

Her cool fingers ran across the back of his neck and he half-shivered into her touch. He wasn't quite sure where to put his hands, so he decided to rest them on her waist, grasping and pulling her closer.

They tasted like embers.

I like to call this chapter the 'Bree and Edward stare longingly at each other very confused' chapter. Haha yeah I realized it a bit late as I read back over it, but these dorks don't know how to deal with emotions. I really want their relationship to be super organic and real, especially for a character like Edward. He's at a very delicate point in his emotional state and I realize as this story goes on it's going to still be cute, but certainly can see it becoming a much more gritty and dark relationship. So, get excited for that I guess. Thank you all as always and please review! I love hearing from you lovely people and feel free to ask any questions or give constructive criticism.