Chapter 2

The ride in the car was short and Dannika asked him no questions probably saving them for when they had privacy and Aaron was grateful.
It was less than 10 minutes later that they were in Dannika's apartment and she headed immediately to the kitchen Aaron following her once the door was closed and locked.
"Here, prove what you say, but do it over the sink as I don't need blood all over my carpet, so the manager keeps my deposit," Dannika told him slapping a knife from the block on the counter into his palm by the hilt.
Aaron lifted his eyebrow in amusement at Dannika's tone, not that he could blame her. He said nothing, however.
Aaron calmly grasped the knife and pressed the sharp blade into the flesh of the palm of his hand, deeply enough that it would have taken several treatments with a healing wand, either that or going to the emergency room to have the doctors heal it.
Most people though, didn't have healing wands at home unless they were fairly wealthy and so had to use the emergency room, but still, they were available for purchase for those that could afford them.
Dannika watched avidly as Aaron with no hesitation, cut the palm of his hand deeply enough that they would have to go to the emergency room, as she didn't own a healing wand, since they were so expensive. Dannika watched in amazement as the cut on Aaron's hand healed right before her eyes with no human intervention. The blood that flowed into the sink still marked his palm, but had stopped, as the cut scabbed over and then even the scab disappeared.
"I didn't really believe you when you said you were immortal," Dannika begin after some silence as her brain tried to process what she had seen. She knew it was impossible for any human to heal that fast with no medical intervention. She was a doctor. She knew how things worked, and while this was a very advanced time, Aaron's hand healing so fast on its own could be considered a miracle.
"I know you didn't, but then most people wouldn't have," Aaron answered simply.
"So how in the hell did you become immortal?" Dannika asked. "I never really believed in the supernatural before tonight."
"Most people don't, though, even if they like fantasy fiction," Aaron said, even as he turned on the faucet so he could wash the blood off his hand. "As for how I became immortal, I was born this way. Quite frankly, I'm exhausted and yes, I know I just woke up in the morgue a couple hours ago, but that doesn't mean I'm not exhausted, because that wasn't a natural sleep."
"Why don't you change in the bathroom?" Dannika suggested. "Get out of those clothes and I'll replace them in Morris's locker before he knows they're gone."
"You probably need to wash them first, since I've been wearing them. They're not dirty, but I'm sure they smell like me," Aaron said.
"I need to do a load of laundry anyway, and I'll just throw these in with my own clothes and then take them back tomorrow. Luckily, Morris doesn't work the same shift I do."
"I'm surprised there are two medical examiners considering how small this town is."
"Over 100,000 people is hardly that small," Dannika pointed out. "I won't say we compare to the big cities, but still, we have several medical examiners and I'm just one of them. Besides, we need someone else, because I have a right to take a vacation every once in a while and I do take a few days off here and there, as I can't work every day. Besides, people die all the time, whether that's natural causes or not and someone needs to be working."
"I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're absolutely correct," Aaron agreed after contemplating what his mate had said. "You can only work so much, especially in that type of profession, as the government won't let you do over 40 hours a week unless it's overtime and they'll only give you so much of that."
"I usually don't work that many hours, but occasionally it does happen," Dannika agreed. "Now why don't we go sit in the living room once you change into your clothes."
Dannika and Aaron had stopped by the morgue in order to retrieve Aaron's possessions, his clothes, link, wallet, and keys, not to mention the credits in his pocket. Dannika had whistled when she checked the contents of Aaron's wallet at the morgue and saw there was quite a bit of cash in the billfold. That would help Aaron a lot Dannika knew. Still, the cash would only go so far and she was sure that Aaron didn't carry more than $500 or so in his wallet and that was still a lot of money to carry on you what with the state of society being what it was with criminals that would rob you blind if they got the chance.
Aaron was grateful that his shirt and pants were still in good shape, though his underwear had been thrown away as no one wanted somebody else's undergarments, even if it had been laundered beforehand.
All the money in his wallet was there, as well as his credit cards and driver's license.
"Good, I'm glad those men didn't take my wallet or at least the cash and credit cards in it," Aaron said. "It looks like they're intent wasn't to rob me and the cash I have will make things a little easier so long as I'm careful with it until I can use my credit cards again."
"Yeah, I saw that, but I didn't touch it after making sure all your credit cards and everything seemed to be there," Dannika said.
"Thanks for that," Aaron told her with a wink. "That just proves your honest and not going take from somebody who is supposedly dead. Many people would you know, rob a corpse, I mean."
"That seems kind of disgusting to me," Dannika said, winkling her nose to emphasize her point. "Yes, I'm well aware that I make my living working on corpses, but robbing the dead is just disgusting. It's so dishonest, and if I happened to be caught, I would be fired or at least given a warning. I would be disgraced and might not be able to find another job as a medical examiner anywhere else once word got out. Even if you put aside my personal ethics, I would never risk my career by stealing from the dead."
"Well, it's nice to know that you're honest, as so many people aren't," Aaron told her with a smile and a wink. "It's nice to know your ethics and morals aren't flexible at least when it comes to your profession."
"They're not flexible in other ways either," Dannika told him shortly.
"What you never cheat on your taxes or in other ways," Aaron asked her with amusement, clear in his tone, his dark eyes twinkling merrily.
"Of course, I don't cheat on my taxes, as that could get me in trouble with the US government, even if that's not for many years. Feel free to use my shower, my soap and shampoo, if you like," Dannika offered changing the subject. "You kind of do smell like the morgue so a shower would probably be a good idea."
"That sounds good, so thanks for the offer of using your shower as I could use one," Aaron said.
"You're welcome," said Dannika pointing out the bathroom and Aaron gathered up the bag with his clothes in it that he had brought from the car, and headed in that direction, closing the door behind him.
Dannika soon, heard, the shower running and it wasn't long until it shut off again. A few minutes after that, Aaron emerged from the bathroom, dressed in his own clothes with the sweats neatly folded.
"I don't know why you bothered to fold them. There are going in the washing unit downstairs tonight," Dannika said.
"Matter of habit," Aaron shrugged. "I've never been married, so I had to learn to take care of myself and I've never been a slob. I wash my own clothes and do all those chores that are necessary in life when I am home, but if I'm staying at a hotel, then I'll let them do the laundry, as I usually end up staying somewhere nice enough that they have a laundry service."
"Well, a man, that can actually take care of himself," Dannika smiled. "You're so unusual, at least in my experience, as most men can't do their own laundry or cook their own meals."
"I won't claim I'm a great cook and I do eat mostly pre-prepared stuff or has instructions on the package that I can use to fix it. I do eat out quite a bit, but I'm not completely helpless in that area."
"Well, if you can afford to eat out, I suppose, there's nothing wrong with it, though it's not really healthy to do so all the time," Dannika said.
"I'm well aware of that, but since I'm immortal, I'm not going to have a heart attack or have a stroke or get diabetes, though I can get fat if I don't watch what I eat or at least exercise," Aaron said.
"Now, I'm envious," Dannika said, and she did indeed look rather envious at his ability to eat whatever he wanted and not have to worry about things like heart attacks or strokes, though he could apparently get fat, which was a small thing that made Aaron seem not so perfect."
"So, I know you died in an alley due to two men fighting or at least that's what you said," Dannika asked suddenly.
"That's right, I guess the police are on the case," Aaron said.
"Yes, they are, though they haven't been to the morgue yet, so I haven't heard any of the gossip and what you told me is basically all I know," Dannika said. "I don't know how I'm going to explain how my corpse disappeared. The cameras on the outside of the building would've seen me enter and leave just a few minutes later and also you, though it wouldn't have seen your face because you kept your head down. I'm actually surprised your cash and credit cards were still in your wallet considering how I know you died. I suppose those men didn't have time to rob you before somebody saw them other than you, I mean."
Aaron winced at being caught on film, even if it video couldn't identify his face. Also, despite this being the 23rd century, the cameras were likely cheap and therefore, the picture would likely be grainy and if that was the case, it was a small mercy. Law enforcement agencies weren't going to waste money on the expensive equipment, especially for places like the morgue and were as cheap as they could be in most cases. In this case, the morgue was a separate building and not in the basement of a hospital, as the hospital was several miles away from the morgue.
"It'll be a mystery," Dannika said.
"I hope you don't get in trouble with your boss," Aaron said. "I mean you were seen entering and leaving the building, though it was only a few minutes before you left, so it's not like you had a body over your shoulder when you did so at least you can't be accused of stealing the deceased."
"There is a back door and the camera over it is broken. If I had thought about it, I would've had you go out that door," Dannika said. "I was just so shocked to see you up and moving around that my brain went on the fritz temporarily."
"I can't really blame you for that," Aaron told her sounding and looking sympathetic. "I know I've caused no end of problems for you, but it's not like I meant to walk into that alley and be hit with a modified stunner. I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if I wasn't immortal, then, I'd be dead. I was just an innocent bystander."
"I know it wasn't your fault and hopefully, the police will catch those two men," Dannika told Aaron, even as she patted his arm above the elbow.
"The sheriff's department aren't going to have a case since the body from the morgue disappeared," Aaron said.
"They'll get them for having illegal stunners at least one of them modified to kill and I'm sure there are other charges the sheriff's department can level at the perps," Dannika said.
"That's true," Aaron said. "They might not get as much time in prison since there is no body, but at least they'll get some time behind bars. This is quite the mess I've gotten myself into. It seems like I can't even walk down a street without getting in trouble."
"Bad luck happens to everyone at least sometimes," Dannika said.
"It doesn't usually happen to me, but I suppose I was due," Aaron sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"I'll drive you back to the hotel if you promise to stick around for a few days," Dannika said.
"You can drive me back to my car and as for sticking around for a few days, I'm not going anywhere, but I'm going to have to be careful, lay low. I don't want the police to accuse me of being the dead man that was in the morgue. It's not like I can claim I have an identical twin brother, as I'm sure they will do a background check to see that, no, I don't have any siblings at all and then I'd be in trouble for lying to the police."
"No, you don't need that kind of trouble," Dannika agreed. "I know some of the officers that work as deputies at the sheriff's department and there are several in particular that are obnoxious."
"These officers give you trouble?" Aaron asked more than idle curiosity in his question.
"That's the trouble with a small town you know, as you go to school with them and if they have a grudge against you or just dislike you for some reason then you have trouble whenever you encounter them. Since in this case, a few of them are deputies with the sheriff's department, I encounter them on a regular basis, instead of once in a great while. One of the men I went to school with never did grow out of the bullying stage, though he usually sticks to snarky comments whenever we see each other. There's also one of the women that's my age, that I went to school with and while she wasn't a bully, we weren't exactly best friends either. We were simply to different to ever be friends."
"One of those types of things, hm?" Aaron said with amusement in his expression his previous frustration disappearing for the moment.
"To say we dislike each other would be an understatement as we outright detest each other and Candace Mulligan hasn't changed at all where she always gives me a hard time whenever we have to see each other, which is pretty regular. Of course, I call her Candy just to get her goat and she hates that."
"So, the dislike is mutual then," Aaron suggested.
"Oh absolutely, and if she could find me guilty of a crime it would make her year," Dannika said making a face. "She'd love to send me up the river and for me to lose my job as medical examiner, for me to be disgraced, my reputation ruined. She'd probably dance jig right in front of me."
"She must truly hate you," Aaron said.
"She was in one of those cliques that made fun of the geeks and the others that didn't fit in with the popular crowd. She never did outgrow that stage. She was the head cheerleader while I was one of the smart kids, as I didn't have the coordination nor the desire to be one."
The scenario Dannika was painting, was as old as time, as it happened even in this century to where a certain group made fun of others in high school and a lot of men and women, never outgrew that stage. The stage of needing to belittle and pick on those that weren't in their circle.
"Hate might be a little strong, but she does deeply detest me at the very least," Dannika said. "She joined the sheriffs, because I heard her parents couldn't afford to send her to college and she couldn't get a scholarship, which is just another thing for her to detest about me."
"That's a silly reason to detest someone, but I know it happens all the time," Aaron said, shaking his head.
"She probably feels as if she failed and if there's one thing I know about Candy that's she hates being seen as a failure, especially by someone, she considers her rival."
"Sometimes personalities clash," Aaron said. "You can't get along with everyone as humans just are not made that way."
"I'll drop you off at your car. You call me tomorrow, as it's getting late and we both need sleep," Dannika said. "I, for one, need to work tomorrow, though I suppose I could take the day off. I get off about five, though I have worked the night shift or the early morning one, but right now that's when I get off."
"I'll call you, but I'm going to have to lay low for a few days until we see if I'm mentioned in the news about the body disappearing from the morgue. All my cards ID, credit cards, cash and everything else is still in my wallet. Why they didn't take the whole wallet I have no idea as that's not the way it works in a place like New York."
"Your wallet is nice and it looks like real leather. The detectives or whoever responded to the call probably just looked at what was in your wallet to check your identification. They probably thought any of your relatives might like to have the wallet, since it's such a nice one," Dannika said. "Of course, it's also possible that whoever answered the call was a newbie and didn't think to look for your identification and in that case they probably won't last long, even in a small town sheriff's department, because that's the first thing you do when you need to identify someone."
"They probably took a picture of my corpse with their link and are checking the hotels," Aaron explained. "And to answer your question it is genuine leather and was expensive, but I can afford another one, but I'm sure they didn't know that and so wanted it to give it to any family I had," Aaron said.
"I wouldn't think anybody would want a dead man's wallet though," Aaron added with humor in his expression and voice. "I know you never know, as it could be kept for sentimental reasons for example, but still, most people wouldn't want to keep a dead person possessions unless they were valuable. Like worth several hundred dollars at least."
"Still, you never know about people," Dannika said and Aaron nodded in total agreement.
"That's very wise, especially for someone so young," Aaron told her making her blush at the tone of Aaron's voice, which was one of admiration.
"Hey, I'm nearly 40. I'm hardly young," Dannika protested.
"And I am centuries old," Aaron told her with a wink. "You actually look older than I do, even if that's not technically the case."
"True, but then, I'm very mortal and you apparently aren't," Dannika said. "I'm 36 if you're curious."
"I was actually, but I didn't feel it was my place to ask at least not until we get to know each other better. Most women don't like to tell anybody, their age, particularly the older ones," Aaron said. "You know, I need to change my appearance, even if that's just with a wig and some makeup, maybe hair or eye dye."
"That's not a bad idea. It'll be only superficial changes but so long as nobody looks too closely at you especially law enforcement then it should pass muster so long as you don't get into any trouble," said Dannika.
"That might be a better idea than going back for my clothes and toiletries, as I can always buy things at the stores here. All my credit cards are still in my wallet so I still have my money and I don't have to go to get any from a bank machine."
"That'll be expensive," Dannika said. "Things aren't cheap anymore, especially if they're quality."
"That doesn't matter," Aaron said simply
Though Aaron didn't say so Dannika knew that meant that he was well off enough he didn't need to worry about replacing his clothes with a new suitable wardrobe. Of course, to be fair, she had found quite a bit of cash in his wallet, and though she hadn't bothered to count it, it indicated to her that he could afford to lose that much if somebody robbed him, because most people simply didn't carry that much cash on them. It was a good thing he had so much cash and that it hadn't been taken, as it would make some things easier for him until he could use his credit cards again.
"I have more clothes where I live in New York, so I only need to buy a few new things not a whole wardrobe," Aaron said.
"That will be less it's expensive, then replacing your whole wardrobe," Dannika said. "Still, it won't be cheap. Also, using your bank cards might not be wise if you change your looks. The police might be keeping an eye on your bank account to see if anybody uses it."
"They can't do that unless I have a criminal record and I don't," said Aaron. "Still, I'll use my credit card as little as possible until I'm sure the police aren't watching my purchases, though they have to have probable cause. EDD can easily hack into my bank so long as they have a warrant."
EDD stood for electronic detective division, and they were very good about getting evidence from things like bank records by hacking. They were usually instrumental in getting enough evidence to put someone in prison.
Aaron and Dannika walked out of her apartment, making sure to lock the door and Dannika got behind the wheel of her car and Aaron got into the passenger seat.
Dannika started her car and headed back to Aaron's vehicle.

~~~Aaron and Dannika~~~

The Immortal and the Medical Examiner - Chapter 1 - Believer

Organization for Transformative Works

13-16 minutes

Chapter Text

Aaron Hotchner came awake, suddenly, feeling the hard surface under his back and opened his eyes slowly trying to remember what had happened.
He opened his eyes until they were just slits and examined his surroundings without moving his head even an inch until he could ascertain where he was.
The morgue, Aaron thought, resigned.
He was in a Dupar Woods, a little town in the north in America. There was only about 100,000 people and that was small considering this was the 23rd century. While there were plenty of small towns dotted around the US most of them had at least 500,000 people, which was still considered relatively small compared to the big cities like New York or Chicago.
Dupar Woods was like walking back into the past where all the buildings looked like you had stepped back in time.
Aaron, well knew that this was on purpose as Dupar Woods was a tourist town. It was the way they survived when so many small towns became abandoned and started to rot after decades and centuries.
Most of the buildings were made with stone and occasionally brick at least the public buildings. As for the houses people lived in a lot of those were built of wood or brick. It was a nice enough town, but Aaron had not expected to wake up in the morgue and now he had to get out of here before the medical examiner or somebody else showed up.
Luckily for him, in such a small town, they were unlikely to have security cameras in the morgue itself because they're crime rate wouldn't be as high as the big cities, so most governments wouldn't waste the money.
The only problem was, he was buck naked, as he had apparently been stripped of his clothes when he was dead. He wasn't even wearing a pair of underwear, much less a shirt and pants.
How embarrassing! Aaron already knew he wasn't likely to find any clothes in the morgue, as he was sure that his had been disposed of by now. They'd probably been thrown into an incinerator to be burned up.
He hoped it was nighttime, as he'd have an easier time getting back to his hotel, if it wasn't in the middle of the day where people would be awake and going on about their daily lives.
He did not want to be arrested for public indecency, especially since he was supposedly dead. If he was caught questions would eventually be asked, as to how he come back to life, questions he didn't want to answer. Aaron sighed and looked around for the closest exit checking the nearest window once he was out of where they stored the dead to see if it was dark enough for him to get out of the building, unseen.
He knew he was lucky he hadn't woken up and one of the cold storage drawers that all morgues had. He suspected that the coroner was about to start an autopsy on him and was probably on break, which is why he hadn't been in cold storage.
He was sure there was going to be a news story about a missing body when it was discovered, so he had a day at the most, and he likely only had a few hours before questions were going to be asked by the authorities and the medical examiner's office.
He would hate to get the coroner in trouble over the missing body, but it couldn't be helped.
Aaron walked down the dark corridor and found a locker room where the employee stored some items and he found a pair of sweats in one of the lockers, which were tad big on him, but they would do and at least he was no longer naked. He hated to steal somebody's clothes, but he wasn't afraid of the germs that were likely on them because he was immortal. Looked like he had been wrong about not being able to locate some clothing, even if it wasn't his own. Thank God, that some employees had kept sweats in their locker probably to exercise in.
He couldn't get germs of any kind as he wasn't able to get sick. He couldn't get a cold, the flu or anything more serious like cancer, schizophrenia, or hepatitis.
Aaron was nearly free of the morgue when the door at the end of the hallway with a big exit sign with illuminated red letters opened.
"What?! exclaimed a tall, beautiful woman with dark hair as that was about all Aaron could tell in the dim light of the hallway. "How in the holy hell are you wondering around? I've got to be hallucinating. You were dead! You were lying on my table! You had no pulse for pity's sake! I was just about to start my autopsy!"
"It's a good thing I woke up then," Aaron said as calmly as possible.
"What are you an alien? Some kind of supernatural being? A god? What are you?! Because what I've seen is impossible," the woman asked.
"Why don't we go somewhere more private to talk?" Aaron suggested calmly.
"What about my office? I deserve an explanation," the woman said.
"Too many cameras, it's not private enough," Aaron answered simply. "It's bad enough that there is going to be a video of me just waking up and getting off your exam table. People don't need any more evidence that I apparently wasn't dead when I'm sure they took my pulse and everything."
"That's not quite true," the woman said. "There aren't any cameras except outside the building, there's never been a need and the sherif'fs department isn't about to waste money on security cameras for a bunch of dead bodies that aren't important to anyone in power."
"You mean anybody rich or with political connections," Aaron translated. "Never mind that those that died have family that loved them. They just aren't important in the grand scheme."
"And those with such connections don't care about the ordinary folks, even if it comes back to bite them in the ass," the woman added with the sardonic smile. "If this was a big city, it would be different."
"True, but I'd still rather get out of here, just in case somebody else recognizes me," Aaron said.
"There's a coffee shop about 3 miles from here that I like to go to," the woman said. "They should still be open and it's only 7 o'clock. They close at nine so we have time to talk."
"Fiona's cafe and coffee," Aaron said knowing which coffee shop the woman meant.
"That's the one," the woman agreed.
"May I have your name, my lady, before we head to Fiona's?"
"Dannika Petska," the woman answered.
"That's a very beautiful name," Aaron said. "We need to get out of here though or at least I do."
"Let's go then," Dannika agreed.
The two left the morgue together, Aaron ducking his head when Dannika pointed out the camera that was mounted on the door.
"Do you have a car?" Dannika asked Aaron.
"Yes, I do, but it's parked near the hotel where I was staying," Aaron answered, "but I don't have my keys, because they were in the pocket of my pants."
"I'll get your things for you tomorrow so you can at least have your identification and your hotel room and car keys," Dannika said. "First, though I want an explanation is why you're up and walking around instead of dead on my table waiting for me to do an autopsy on you."
"I suppose I owe you that much at least," Aaron offered, not at all reluctant to tell the truth for Dannika was his mate something he had realized when he had looked at her, even in the dimness of the morgue hallway. He could still see her well enough to feel that instant connection.
"You definitely do," Dannika told him bluntly. "You should be dead. You were dead, so I don't know how the hell you're suddenly alive and walking around acting as if nothing happened other than you waking up suddenly in the morgue. It's as if this is an ordinary event to you, like it's happened to you 1000 times that you suddenly wake up some strange place and act as if it's nothing unusual at all."
"You'll understand once I explain," Aaron promised, "at least I hope you will."
"I have a feeling the explanation is going to be extraordinary and stretching into the realm of disbelief," Dannika said.
"You have no idea how right you are," Aaron told her saying nothing else, as the two got into Dannika's car with the driver's side door opening automatically as soon as Dannika approached it. Dannika used the remote to unlock the passenger side of the vehicle and the door opened so Aaron could get in.

~~~Aaron and Dannika~~~

"So, you were saying you're immortal?" Dannika asked her disbelief obvious. Despite the disbelief in her voice, Dannika remembered to keep it down, as she didn't want the few people in Fiona's to overhear their conversation.
"Exactly," Aaron said. "I know very well how hard it is to believe, but I'll be happy to demonstrate, but not here in public. We'll have to go somewhere more private for that."
Both of them had drinks Dannika had decaffeinated tea and Aaron had a soda as it was really too late for them to be drinking coffee if they wanted to sleep tonight.
Aaron also had a massive sandwich as he hadn't had dinner while Dannika had, as she had just been coming back after her dinner break to start on that autopsy.
"What exactly do you plan on doing to show me?" Dannika asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The normal way is I take something sharp, like a knife, and I cut myself somewhere non-vital," Aaron explained calmly, even as he took a bite of his delicious sandwich. "The wound will heal much faster than it would for someone who was completely mortal. It will be gone in just a few seconds."
"That's impossible to believe," Dannika said.
The disbelief in her tone was obvious to Aaron.
"I can't blame you for your disbelief," Aaron said with a small smile, his dark brown eyes sparkling with amusement at her disbelief.
"Do you remember how you...you know...died?" Dannika asked.
"My memories are perfectly clear, thank you," Aaron snorted his amusement clear. "Somebody used a stunner modified to kill, which is supposed to be impossible, but I'm well aware that it can still happen, if one is clever with electronics and knows what they're doing."
"That's true, as that's standard stunners have a power limiting chip, but it is possible to remove it without burning out the circuitry if you know what you're doing and have a delicate touch," Dannika agreed. "I don't know what the world's coming to when you can't even walk down the street without somebody killing you when you don't give them what they want, which is usually your link, wallet, watch and whatever other items you have on you."
"The human race has been going downhill for a long time, Dannika," Aaron told her. "I've been around long enough to see that old values have gone out the window, to where people were a lot politer and more honest back in the past, but that started to change in the early 20th century and has slowly changed until a lot of people commit numerous crimes some victimless, but a lot that are not and good, honest people are often taken advantage of."
"And are you telling me that this didn't happen back when you were born?" Dannika asked with an eyebrow skeptically.
"Of course it did, as wherever humans congregate, there's going to be be some crime, even if it's only minor things like littering," Aaron said. "It just didn't happen as much, and also there are certain types of crime that didn't exist back then, because there weren't electronics or other things that come with an advancing society."
"That's fair," Dannika decided.
"Still, you have a point they are certain types of crime that have been around for thousands of years thievery, murder, kidnapping, embezzlement," Aaron admitted, listing only a small segment of crimes as there were numerous ones, but a lot of them had the same basis like hate or greed. Also, a lot of crimes fell into the same category and were just offshoots of the same basic crime. Money was a big one as to why people committed a crime, but there were many offshoots for that particular category.
"So, about that demonstration," Dannika suggested. "We can go back to my place at least temporarily, as that would be private and it's the only place I can think of right off hand that isn't public."
"You're willing to trust me not to try to take advantage of you if you take me back to your apartment?" Aaron asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I know taekwondo, Mr. Hotchner, so try anything and you'll regret it," Dannika told Aaron pertly.
"I will remember that," Aaron said his amusement obvious. "Don't worry, I have no intention of trying anything, as I'm not that kind of man I promise."
"We'll see," Dannika said sounding skeptical.
Aaron said nothing, as he wasn't about to press his luck, as he didn't want Dannika to report him to those in authority. It might be that those authority wouldn't believe the report and thought that the medical examiner was hallucinating and was drunk or on drugs, but still, it wasn't a chance he was willing to take unless necessary. Besides, the body was still missing and how Dannika was going to explain that he had no idea. He only hoped she didn't get in trouble over it, as it would be his fault if she did.
He couldn't believe he had been killed by a modified stunner no less, and though, he knew that such weapons existed his luck, usually wasn't so bad that he walked into the middle of a confrontation between two men.
He'd just been minding his own business when he walked into the mouth alley to see two men arguing, and while both had stunners held on each other, neither at the moment was firing. He had tried to back away, but his foot had hit a soda can and it had made a noise that had somehow missed the dumpster or perhaps fallen out since the dumpster was overfull. That had been enough for both men to look startled at the sound and to whirl on him. He believed that both men had fired and at least one of the beams had hit him, Aaron knew, as otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in the morgue.
He didn't really remember much after that, but then since it had been a total surprise, so he supposed that he wouldn't.
The two of them left the coffee shop, which was closing in just a few minutes after throwing away their trash and Dannika took Aaron back to her apartment, which wasn't far from the coffee shop

~~~Aaron and Dannika~~~