Sooo we're gonna take a little break from all this heavy action in order to explore these characters some more. Let's see their shades in between.

Character development is vital after all :-) especially for the later games!

Enjoy!

Chapter 22

"If I never have to give another statement on the record again then it will be too soon." Ivy said finally emerging from the interrogation room after four solid hours of questions. She was due back in a couple of hours to speak intimately about her Uncle now both he and Amanda were out in the open. Ivy had been worried that something would happen to Daniel since he blabbed about Amanda, when Ivy knew John would have preferred to keep the identity of all his accomplices under wraps. Now only Mark, Lawrence and herself were hiding in the shadows, for Ivy had begun to feel more and more guilty every time another Jigsaw trap was revealed; watching Mark casually slope off to yet another crime scene. Just to top off her worries, Eric Matthews had still not been found. Allison was panicking as was Daniel Rigg, both throwing accusatory looks at Ivy for her silence. The new Detective felt more like an accomplice than ever before and a part of her knew she would always regret not telling all that she knew when she had the opportunity, for it might have saved his life, but doomed Amanda and Daniel's in return. Mark was the only 'friend' she had whom she felt somewhat remotely able to speak her mind around, for while Allison and Daniel were courteous and as friendly as before Eric's disappearance; they were always probing her for clues when all she wanted was to point a giant foam finger at Hoffman. His advice was to carry on with her real job for the FBI which was far more crucial than two officers going slowly insane over the loss of their friend and that guilt such as what she was suffering from was a deadly disease that would eat away at her.

"Well you're back a couple of hours for round two with Allison and I." Mark smile grimly as he watched Ivy stretch from behind his polystyrene coffee cup. Ivy sauntered over and swiped the cup out of his hand to peer at what was inside.

"Black?" She questioned peering at the dingy substance below, "How can you possibly drink this it tastes disgusting."

Mark quirked an eyebrow as she went to fill up her own cup not bothering to give him his own back. "Not to me." He said bluntly and Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Would it kill you to break your cold exterior just once?" She pressed adding several dollops of sugar into her own cup that made Mark cringe as she took a long sip only to burn her tongue and jump, nearly sloshing the rest down her white vest top. She glanced up at Mark to see him trying not to laugh for once. "And the bad day continues, although I finally made you laugh." She said setting her coffee down carefully as Allison came into the small kitchen area.

"Ivy you okay to carry on at two, I know that was tough and we've only covered your test, never mind starting on your Uncle."

Ivy looked at Mark who shrugged, "The offers are here for you." He said simply, seating himself with a copy of the days newspaper tucked under his arm. On the front page was the face of John Kramer and on page 1 a picture of Amanda Young from her mug shot when she was falsely arrested.

"I suppose it's better to get it out of the way sooner rather than later." She answered and Allison nodded, "Plus we need the information."

"We do." Allison said at once and Ivy nodded feeling the awkward tension fill the air. "I never thought we'd have to question each other about these kind of things." She said and Mark shook his head, playing his part very well.

"Still no luck?" Ivy approached folding her arms and waiting for a rebuttal.

"Nothing so far, but it's only been a day since he went missing so there is still hope."

Ivy nodded and felt she was better out of the way. Fisk entered too, took one look at Ivy whom he hadn't seen since before her second test and instantly held a hand to his mouth.

"Newbie Detective Ivy Reeves, survivor of one of Jigsaw's toughest and most complicated games' Uncle is John Kramer the infamous Jigsaw Killer himself." He announced in an overly dramatic whisper that earned him a look of irritation from Mark as Allison downed her steaming cup of coffee as soon as it touched her lips and was already reaching for a second.

"He's never killed anyone remember." Ivy pointed out in a bored tone, she knew Fisk was absolutely loving this new gossip that he was such a part of, instead of being shunted to the interviews like so many other cases he found himself on.

"No just finds sick and twisted ways for his victims to kill himself as our lovely one legged Doctor informed us." Fisk replied merrily taking the final empty chair and attempting to catch Mark's eye from behind his paper. "Isn't it weird for you though? I mean your own Uncle tried to kill you."

"Fisk you need to learn the art of tact." Allison said from the coffee machine her voice tainted with sarcasm. "Not what she wants to hear."

"No it's not." Ivy agreed, "And yeah it is weird to be put through two tests as well I might add, that was my second one I've just done and I've survived them both now so I feel both lucky and also wonder why he felt so strongly about it that he would make his own family go through it." She finished quickly becoming suddenly embarrassed and hiding behind her coffee. It was statements like that which were meant for the interview room. Allison drained the last of her second cup and looked at it mournfully. Ivy caught this and was thankful for the distraction, "What's wrong with the coffee cup?" She asked with a slight laugh that succeeded in making both Mark and Fisk glance at the woman.

"It just didn't taste as good as the last cup, didn't do anything for me." She replied furrowing her eyebrows as she kept looking at the cup as if willing it to refill itself and become twice as delicious.

"That's the problem with coffee." Stated Fisk cheerfully, "The first cup is great, then it can never quite live up to what you first had."

"Kind of like good sex." Mark smirked at Ivy who was too busy looking at the clock on the wall which she often took to gazing at. It reminded her of the bathroom and why she was really pretending at being a Detective for the FBI; the man sitting opposite her.

"Kind of like justice." She said bitterly and Fisk and Mark both looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Allison asked putting her cup in the bin and leaning against the table.

"Well we as Detectives spend so much of our time hunting down people like my Uncle so that true justice will be served and when we accomplish that it tastes amazing, but afterwards when we try again to find that same sweetness it's just that little bit more bitter. Because we become immune to the feeling after a while, or like my Uncle they keep evading capture so the craving to put the person behind bars becomes stronger. It's similar to what happened with Tapp and his obsession to find John because he was hunting for that moment of sweetness, the moment of recognition for all he had been working for." She frowned at how her words resonated so deeply with her own true feelings and Mark's face softened incredibly so his blue eyes were peering earnestly at her own if only she made the eye contact. "So like Eric you begin to frame people for that recognition, you become desperate for that fix again and you'll stop at nothing to do it, like drugs and alcohol and cigarettes it's never quite the same but you can't stop yourself from chasing after it." She finished bleakly. The whole kitchen was completely silent.

"That is a rather dark approach to what we do Ivy." Mark said eventually breaking the silence to touch her sleeve very gently, a touch that didn't go unnoticed by Allison.

"Well it's why I was tested in the first place." She summed up looking at the impressive Detective before her. "I wanted that buzz of recognition so badly I was willing to do anything to achieve it, but I learned to see past that thanks to my Uncle, otherwise I do not think I would be able to speak the way I just did. So despite fearing for my life and very nearly losing it throughout the ordeal;" She turned to Fisk. "I am glad that it all happened because I can now see the damage I caused others as the other survivors have told you about. And you won't see it till you all too have been tested.

"You're aware you just used coffee as an extended metaphor for the justice system aren't you?" Asked Fisk very slowly and Ivy snorted.

"It does sound insane doesn't it." She nodded.

"Crazier than a sack full of cats, just like your Aunt." A new voice greeted them all and Mark's expression instantly darkened. A young looking man walked forwards a badge gleaming from his long coat which made him look rather like a wannabe Doctor Who. The man paused surveying the scene before him, "You all look pretty cosy in here." He observed his eyes particularly fixed on Mark who was equally eyeballing him.

"Didn't know that I.A guys ever left their desks." Mark said shrewdly and the man smirked back. All the other Detective seemed to know him and were giving him equally wary looks.

"We don't unless one of our own might be a co conspirator with the biggest serial killer this city has ever had." The man retorted at once offering his hand to Ivy. "Matt Gibson, Internal Affairs."

"What do you want with me Matt Gibson?" Ivy asked him at once not liking the accusatory sweep over her face his eyes were giving and suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna be leading your next interview Miss Reeves." Gibson informed striding over to the coffee machine and pouring himself a cup as Allison edged far away with a look of distaste at his impertinence. Ivy couldn't conceal her surprise as she turned to Mark who had put his paper down.

"I thought Detective Hoffman and Kerry were leading my interviews." She stated in confusion.

"We were the last I heard." Mark said at once his eyes burning into Gibson.

"For the Jigsaw related stuff sure;" Gibson smirked at the companions "But when one of our own Detectives just so happens to be a relation of one of the biggest serial killer's this cities ever had' then you must understand why the I.A is getting involved."

"I have nothing to do with my Uncle's nefarious schemes, in case you and your department have forgotten I've been a victim of these games twice now." Ivy's tone was as cold as the metal her Uncle used and her eyes sparked with a calculating steel. She made sure to stress the words your department, she couldn't wait to distinguish how inferior the Internal Affairs department was to Homicide in her opinion.

"But when that person has escaped easily both times and is involved in such a, well a department who has been scrutinised by me personally..." Gibson began and Ivy's dislike for the man intensified itself.

"What are you implying about us?" Allison cut across quickly, her verbal tongue lashing out already.

"Just that other members in here have been investigated by us before haven't they? Like Officer Rigg and our dear Detective Hoffman." Mark stared at Gibson in surprise, his snake like timing stricking lucky before glancing at Ivy. She was taken back by the news but was not surprised at all. "If I remember we also had Detective Matthews along once as well and look where he is now."

"I'd fuck off quickly Gibson before you have to investigate me again for punching you right in the face." Mark sneered rising from his chair only to be stopped from Ivy.

"Leave him, there's nothing he can pull on me because I'm not an accomplice." Ivy reassured him quick to rest her hand over Mark's own that was currently gripping the end of the table.

"When you're ready Detective Reeves." Gibson smirked, "Kerry is with me and Hoffman will be interviewing your Aunt in the other room." He announced all of a sudden and Mark started.

"Jill Tuck?" He asked at once and Ivy knew why he was startled, to be interviewing the ex wife of his boss.

"Don't tell me you didn't expect it?" Gibson questioned knowing he had thrown the Detective.

"Eventually of course, but not when she is still a very unlikely accomplice." Mark replied at once keeping his natural stony pallor.

"My Aunt divorced my Uncle when she began to get whispers of what he was doing." Ivy defended at once.

"So your Aunt was aware of John Kramer's intentions." Fisk concluded as he and Allison both peered at Ivy. She could feel her temperature rising.

"She was aware that he was acting unusual and that he was building complicated and obscure machines. Not what he would use them for." She answered the room and Gibson gestured with a sweep of his arm.

"In the interview room where we can record this please." He said and with a growl Ivy left her practically untouched coffee on the table and flounced past Gibson into the interview room sitting down at the table for once. Gibson sloped in after her closely followed by Allison who shut the door and was twitching like a squirrel. Gibson switched on the tapes and Ivy knew that at least two others from Gibson's department would be behind the glass watching the whole interrogation.

"So picking up from where we left off outside; your Aunt was aware of your Uncle building what would turn out to be these traps. Did she ever mention this to you?"

"She mentioned him building new and unusual designs, but my Uncle was already pretty infamous for his engineering work. He has a novel written, and I was too busy studying to be an FBI Agent to pay any close attention to my family. It's the main reason I was tested." Ivy couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed explaining something so personal to Gibson.

"And remind me so it's on the record what your role is with the FBI and Homicide right now."

Ivy sighed, "I know it's complicated. I am predominantly working for the FBI and reporting to them all I find about the Jigsaw case. That meant I had to be put on the Homicide department to go to the crime scenes while also being able to provide useful insight into the cases, since I'm one of the only survivors in a sane mental capacity." She finished taking a deep breath. Allison nodded from behind Gibson and Ivy smiled weakly at her. Despite her reservations about Ivy since the disappearance of Eric Matthews, Allison still did not want anything to happen to her friend.

"Right, sounds rather like a fancy way for saying you're a snitch."

"Well that's your opinion Gibson." Ivy said calmly, "Forgive me but provoking me to try and get a rise is rather unprofessional for someone so adept at these interviews." She smirked darkly as Gibson blinked, the sting of her words setting in and the I.A man gritted his teeth.

"Have you ever seen any of the traps before you saw the case files?"

"No I haven't. As I said before I didn't spend much time with my Uncle. The only thing remotely resembling one is a giant glass coffin my Aunt told me about once in a bizarre text message, not that it's been uncovered as a trap yet." She let the memory of that unusual text float to the forefront of her mind with a frown.

"Well you see Ivy, it has." Allison said quietly, before exiting the room and returning with a fresh looking file and placing it before her. "This is the case file for all inside the Nerve Gas Room as we have been referring to it as, the game in which Eric Matthew's son and Amanda Young survived." Ivy flicked through the file seeing the remains of the furnace trap which had claimed the life of Obi Tate and the needle pit where a thousand memories flooded her brain as she recalled Amanda's torturous screams. Eventually she found the picture of the coffin in the middle of one of the upstairs rooms, the room Ivy had spoken with Amanda in after she was rescued. Inside the coffin was large pieces of glass, the light reflecting off it made it look like shining ice. "This is the test designed for Daniel himself, it was a test of trust. Daniel had to climb into the coffin and trust that he would not be harmed while the others inside the room would be burned to death by the steam that came from faucets all along the walls." Allison informed as Ivy peered at the picture in surprise.

"We never saw this trap did we?" She asked and Allison shook her head. "It was thankfully one of the few that the test subjects never found. If they had it could have killed them all, had they been in the room when the door was rigged to slam shut."

"You've never seen it though? Only your Aunt?" Gibson pressed and Ivy shook her head.

"This is the first time I've seen it."

"Moving on, surely your Aunt must have realised once the games started that her ex husband's designs were being used in these killings."

"I can't answer that." She said quickly, "Only Jill can say about that, I don't see how that has anything to do with me."

"It does if your Aunt is an accessory to murder." Gibson shouted his voice rising in anger.

"But it's your job to interview me for the I.A, not to question me about my Aunt." Ivy reminded him and she knew Mark would be proud if he was watching. "Don't forget why you are here."

"See it's that sort of talking that makes me think your in on this." Gibson jumped on her words at once. "Not the first time you've shared a viewpoint with your sadistic Uncle."

"We are family."

Gibson turned away in frustration. "What made you decide to take the job when Detective Kerry offered it to you?"

She watched the irate man before slowly answering. "I'd spent so long training to work for the FBI that I still wanted to be a part of it. Naturally this was before I knew that John was Jigsaw so a part of me wanted to help solve the Jigsaw case and get back at the bastard for putting me in that bathroom to begin with.

"And you feel vindicated right now or do you regret your actions considering it wound you up in another game." Gibson knew exactly where to aim his barbs.

"My second game alongside Eric Matthews was more of a warning then a second game, my Uncle decided to warn me against repeating my past actions. And I also believe he wanted me to know who he was before the world." Ivy lied feeling it would sweeten the deal, she found it amusing to see how many white lies she could decorate amongst the general truth.

"Gibson this seems highly irrelevant to your actual purpose of interviewing Ivy." Allison interrupted, "We have already handled this part of the investigation without your rather personal jabs."

Gibson gave her a nasty glare before he too sat down at the table. He closed his eyes briefly to maintain a level head only to open them thanks to Ivy's phone ringing loudly to Teenage Dirtbag. Ivy peered at it in surprise, as did Allison as Ivy began to chuckle as she flipped her phone open on seeing the caller id. She knew she was being incredibly rude but couldn't care less.

"We don't allow phones in..." Gibson began but both of the female Detectives ignored him as Adam's voice filled Ivy's right ear.

"Did you like your new ringtone?" He asked barely concealing his laughs.

Ivy returned the smiles, "It was interesting and has risen a few looks from Allison and the Officer who is interrogating me."

"Oh yeah you said you go through that today. It's always one of us."

"Yeah and they have my Aunt too."

"Aunt Jill? Not surprising though is it now everyone knows who Jigsaw really is."

Ivy frowned at Adam's casual manner. "Where are you?" She asked, there was the sound of distant traffic coming from Adam's end and occasional sirens. For a moment she thought he was waiting for her outside.

"I'm at the hospital for a routine check-up, ankle still giving me trouble and I ran into our good friend Larry." Adam explained and Ivy's eyebrows creased, Gibson was eying her warily occasionally gesturing for her to hang up; while his expression told her he would much rather snatch the phone out of her hand.

"Did everything go okay with the two of you?" She pushed, "Come on Adam this is like pulling teeth."

"Ha ha, yeah it went fine. In fact it went really well...and I agreed that the three of us would meet up and go out for dinner later today if that's okay with you."

Ivy looked at her phone in surprise, "Wow, yeah that's fine with me. You changed your tune."

Now Allison too was giving her signals to end the call behind Gibson and Ivy nodded holding up a finger.

"Yeah well he has gone through a lot and he looked kinda lonely, I mean he doesn't have you, or anyone really anymore. So I felt sorry and thought that if we sorta all became friends then we could help each other."

"Little cheesy but I agree." She smiled, "Adam you made a mature decision."

"Yeah yeah. K I'll see you later. I...I'm glad we're doing this." His voice became a little more hesitant that made Ivy wonder if that was what he really wanted to say.

"I'm glad we are too." She replied with a quiet smile as Allison walked over and held her hand out for the phone. She gave her friend a cheeky smile and hung up.

"That seemed pretty personal." She remarked and Ivy blushed.

"I'll tell you later." She murmured as Gibson exclaimed loudly.

"You'd have been on a warning in my department for that." He said and Ivy frowned, yet it was Allison who stepped up.

"Well you're not the head of your department yet are you Gibson, and in Homicide things work a little differently." She snapped and Gibson held up his hands.

"Calm down Detective Kerry, or do I need to ask another member of your team to replace you due to your personal ties with Detective Reeves?" His threat was the final straw for both of them.

"I don't know what I did to you to warrant such abhorrent behaviour Gibson, but I'm not standing for it anymore. I'm going over to your department first thing tomorrow and asking to be interviewed by someone else because this is like being tortured by a sadistic wolf." And making sure she had her phone with her she walked out of the interview room. Gibson just stood there his mouth opening and closing like a fish while Allison flashed him a cocky smirk before following Ivy out of the room. Ivy had marched on ahead and into the office she still shared with Allison only to open the door and find Mark thumbing through one of the confidential files in the filing cabinet.

"Mark?" She questioned at once. He started on seeing her and then gave her a quizzical look.

"Aren't you being interrogated by Gibson, he can't be done with you already it's been fifteen minutes." He asked snapping the file shut and holding it out of her reach when she tried to take it. "Don't." He warned her and she folded her arms.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know if you should. It's very gruesome." He informed and Ivy snatched the file from his hands and he flung his arms up before perching on the end of his desk. Inside was pictures from an old game that Ivy had not looked at much. The pictures displayed a young man, his body coated in tattoos lying on a large block. But the creepiest section of the picture wasn't the huge pendulum which had severed the victim's body completely in half, with the device hanging directly where his stomach should have been; it wasn't the blood which covered him from head to toe, including his crushed hands, or the Jigsaw piece in his flesh. It was his soulless eyes staring to his left and one of the photographs had zoomed in for effect. It made Ivy recoil quickly. "I told you." Mark said as he took the files back looking ever so slightly hurt. She frowned looking at her empty hands. She had been sure she was about to discover something that would have incriminated Mark, not just an old crime scene.

"I haven't seen much about this case. Who is he?" She asked watching Mark. He was handling the case file with a tender touch, as if he was disgusted by it. He turned to stare at her.

"You don't know who he is?" He asked sounding thoroughly confused as Ivy shook her head. Her hot headed nature incited by Gibson had cooled down as she watched the Detective before her become slowly morose. "His name is Seth Baxter. He killed my sister."

Ivy blinked for a moment allowing his words to wash over her. "I didn't know you had a sister." She said eventually and he chuckled under his breath.

"I appreciate you not going for the usual condolences." He smirked before gesturing for Ivy to come closer. "But yes, I did have a sister. She was the only family I had left." He looked down as she came nearer and Ivy paused awkwardly in front of him, if he opened up to her she wasn't sure how she would handle it. She waited to see what he'd say next and Mark too appeared to be waiting for her to speak. She gave him a smile and he took a deep breath. "His name is Seth Baxter, one of Jigsaw's earlier victims. It seems that all he had to do was crush his hands to release himself, he did it as you saw..."

"But the trap was inescapable?" She asked and Mark nodded. "Designed to kill him." She muttered.

"Most likely, unless there was another part we've missed."

She looked away from Mark's eyes and ran a hand through her hair. It was already apparent to her that Mark had been the one to end Seth Baxter's pathetic life as revenge for his sister, what she wondered was whether he had been working for John by then or not. "What was her name?" She asked gently, leaning her weight against the side of the desk Mark was perched on so they were in quite close proximity.

"Angelina." He offered quietly and Ivy's lips twitched. She liked the name. "She was going out with him, I knew he was bad for her, I could sense it...but she kept assuring me that Seth was alright and that it was just me being protective. But in the end it wasn't."

"He was a low life." Ivy agreed and Mark smirked at her.

"Well he got what was coming to him." Mark leaned in as if to whisper it in her ear, "Between you and me, no one in this department really bothered with the case because in our eyes justice had been served."

Ivy nodded slowly and began to lean away from the potentially volatile Detective. A cloud of sympathy had fallen on her as she watched Detective Hoffman awkwardly glancing round Kerry's office, waiting for her to speak.

"There was no way for him to get out?" She repeated and Mark nodded once more. She tilted her head and tried to adopt a more innocent, and curious voice as if she was Alice treading through Wonderland for the first time. "I don't understand why anyone would want to build something no one could escape from. I mean, it makes sense for you to have the agenda, but not John. Not my Uncle." She elaborated quickly as her mind began to switch from Mark's trap to the reason why Amanda would willingly trap Adam.

"You're right I suppose, and probably not the first to suggest it." Mark confirmed; "Perhaps it was the emotion Jigsaw was feeling while building it or something. Lets be honest here, apart from you and perhaps a few other victims, most of Jigsaw's targets do deserve to die."

Ivy's head snapped towards him, fixing him with penetrable eyes, Mark instantly became nervous, as if he had revealed too much. "You think they deserved it?" She asked. "That's a bit brutal coming from a police officer." She scolded and Mark began to slink off Allison's desk.

"Detective." He corrected pointing a finger at her, "And you're not the first to tell me that either. But I've learned that it's better to detach from your emotions when handling death on a regular basis and you can ask Gibson all about that." Ivy opened her mouth to speak but Mark cut her off again. "Don't judge me on it Ivy, and don't feel sorry for me." He warned her as he brushed past her and placed his hand on the doorknob.

"What if I can't help it?" She asked him gently and he paused before backtracking to stand before her.

"Then you can, but I cannot say I've ever been the type to be overly grateful or loving when given any sympathy."

"No but you can't possibly keep up this manly facade of stone forever, it must get tiring." She said and Mark laughed.

"You do interest me. You're the first person to ever want to try and figure me out. Believe me it's a complicated puzzle." Mark told her putting his hands on her shoulders, like a father would to his daughter. "Perhaps even unsolvable."

"Maybe the puzzle is just complicated because you keep adding pieces?" Ivy countered and Mark gave her an appraising look of surprise. The two were so wrapped up in their own conversation they didn't notice Allison standing in the doorway.

"Excuse me Detectives." She began and Mark broke away from Ivy at once. He glanced at Allison and instead of reverting into his usual stony persona like Ivy fully expected from him, he sidled past Detective Kerry throwing a wink back at her over Allison's shoulder. As he disappeared from view Ivy had the odd sensation of being involved in yet another secret, she also did not like the look Allison was giving her.

"What was Mark doing in my office? Getting pretty close to him aren't you, and here we all thought he had a heart of stone." She remarked peering down the corridor, watching Mark's back retreat down the hallway.

"More like a heart of ice." Ivy smiled as Allison watched her friend closely. "I think it can break, it just takes a giant whack."

"So metaphorical today." Alison mumbled, "I thought you and Adam were getting close, judging by that conversation earlier which you were going to tell me about..." Allison began, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of gossip.

"We are, I was going to tell you when we had some time alone." Ivy began, "We've decided to see each other officially." Her heart swelled as she finally told someone the news that had been clogging up inside of her like the dam she had been wanted to release.

Allison however was not quite so joyed. "But what about what I just saw with Mark?" She asked gesturing to the door. "Seemed a little close for someone with a boyfriend to me. Or are you just testing the waters?" She asked and Ivy blinked, backing away slightly in surprise. Seeing the hurt in her friend's eyes Allison quickly backtracked. "I didn't mean it that way."

"There is nothing going on between Mark and I." Ivy said bluntly, her tone growing colder.

"Well it's not appearing that way." Allison informed her as she stepped over to her own desk and picked up the case file Mark had left behind. She began flicking through it as Ivy stared at her.

"Have I been giving off an impression or something?" She asked and Allison looked up putting the files away.

"Were you looking at this case or he?"

"Mark was mostly, he told me about his sister. But what did you mean just before?" Ivy asked again, trying to put Kerry off her suspicions about why Mark was snooping round her office.

Allison watched at her before emitting a long, painful sigh. "It just seemed a little, well dodgy for you to be hanging out so...intimately with Mark while you're with Adam. A bit two timing if you ask me." Her friend admitted and Ivy's eyes widened at once.

"I'm sorry if it's coming off that way Allison." She said slowly, Ivy's eyes resting on the case file still in Allison's hands where Seth Baxter's corpse lay on full display. "But I want Adam. Forgive me, I haven't been in many relationships. My first one didn't even happen till I was eighteen." She began feeling nervous and a little embarrassed as she revealed another part of her past to Allison who had dumped the case file back on her desk and was folding her arms with a big smile.

"Don't worry you were a late bloomer, I on the other hand wish I had waited till I was much older." She emphasised the last words and Ivy returned the smile.

"But seriously though, I really like what is beginning to happen between Adam and I, I finally feel like everything is falling into place at last. I'm happier than I've been in a long time and Adam has decided that he will give Lawrence a chance and we're all going out for dinner together." Ivy beamed and Allison copied her, catching onto her friend's new found excitement.

"Well that means you can't go out with me and Daniel and Fisk tonight." Allison sighed, "I'll be the only girl again."

"I don't think Rigg wants me there that much. Not after what went on with Eric." Ivy replied strolling over to the chair she worked at and frowning.

"He's out there." Allison said at once and Ivy frowned.

"Let's hope so."

"He has to be. He's strong and he'll beat Jigsaw." Allison said her voice rising and as Ivy looked on she saw her eyes begin to shine with unshed tears and her lower lip quivered.

"I don't know. He did fail. You can't pin all your hopes on the fact that he might be alive. I know that you and Eric had some kind of relationship that you've both been keeping under wraps but I can see it in your eyes." Ivy began despite how low it made her feel to think such thoughts she was sick of Allison being scared to death that every call would either be Jigsaw or Eric himself.

Allison paused in her despair. "I wondered if you'd started to catch on. Like I did with you and Adam."

"It is a female thing." Ivy reassured and Allison smiled. "Want to share now? And I sort of overheard the two of you one day."

"I wouldn't be surprised. We fight about it all the time, I'm surprised no one else has." Allison rolled her eyes rubbing at them with her fingers and squeezing the bridge of her nose. "I've not been sleeping at all, I'm practically an insomniac right now. It's driving me insane."

"You're too closely involved, you saw all that I did. Use some of your holiday pay for a few days to clear your head. Or better yet get out of the state for a while and away from Jigsaw till things become calm again. I can handle Strahm and Perez, they seem okay as long as you follow their instructions to the tee."

"I can't leave they need me here. The two of us are the glue which is holding this department together now. I can't abandon you to Mark and the others, you saw how barbarous Gibson can be and there are others like him here. It took me a long time to get to the position I am now." Allison explained and Ivy frowned having never thought of herself as any sticky substance before, "I was so angry when the FBI suggested to put you on the team at first, you were my rival who got lucky because you'd somehow managed to survive and just so happened to be a newly graduated FBI Agent. It seemed too good to be true for you. You have to admit that you've been lucky Ivy, not being in uniform, to earn your badge and right on the case people would kill to be on. But I couldn't deny that we needed you badly and I was glad to hear of what you did to save Adam. That was what gave me the hope that you would be able to help us. It was why I treated you the way I did when we first met and why I hid it from Mark and the others. They all thought the same as me for a while." She shared and Ivy nodded in understanding staring at the wood on her section of Allison's desk.

"Although it wasn't easy for me either." She approached wondering if she may get shot for answering back right when Allison had finally revealed her feelings which must have been rather hard to overcome. "I suppose I would have felt exactly the same, like I'd been replaced a little. But FBI training was hard work, I was always studying the fundamentals of law, forensics, a bit of psychology, how to interview people as well as how to use firearms as well as physical fitness. I don't want to sound like I'm rattling off a list and bragging but that was inanely hard at times and I felt like quitting most of the time." Ivy hadn't really ever spoken with someone about her twenty weeks in the FBI and she had thought her first time would be with Adam since he often asked about the FBI. But a part of her felt like Allison deserved to understand, since no one in the building would be able to understand the rigorous training, despite handling similar situations on a daily basis. "I suffered more than others, I loved the academic side of it and wanted to be the best, but my fitness often let me down and I only just passed the fitness tests. After I finally graduated and got the Top Achievers award in academics I wanted nothing more than to begin working on a top case, not to start at the bottom after all that. It's why I began snooping around into the Jigsaw case since I felt like all my work had been to just file paperwork."

Allison was listening in intently keen to hear what it had been like at the FBI.

"Course that didn't do me any favours because I winded up in a trap set up by my Uncle where I nearly died." Ivy said allowing the bitterness to swallow her for a moment, "I escaped and I still want to work for the FBI but I was happy to help out Homicide if it meant I could maybe stop people from getting hurt the way I did..."

"I'm sure it didn't hurt that you were on the case you wanted to be on either way now and could help put the bastard behind bars where he belongs." Allison interjected and Ivy smiled.

"I was just coming to that, you took the words out of my mouth there." She grinned and the serious atmosphere was suspended.

"It must have been irritating I guess. What division do you want to be a part of then?" Allison asked, "Terrorism or Counterintelligence?"

"It was at first, but Cybercrime is what always interested more than anything else, since I was good with the computers in Quantico." She answered and Allison smiled. "Taking down the occasional online predator sounds thrilling to me." Ivy smirked shuffling the papers on the desk, "But for now I'll start with Jigsaw."

Uh oh Ives, watch out because Allison isn't fooled by you and Hoffman.

All the pieces are fitting together...sound like anyone we know? I'm even starting to text like Jigsaw now, oh dear.

Matt Gibson, not much of a character, so I gave him some extra bite. Also some lovely girl on girl bonding here.

Read and review please! Thank you ever so much to those who do xoxo