Ceremony In Death

"Request denied," Eve said shortly as she pulled into the garage at Central. "I said you're off duty." She shoved out of the car and walked away.

– =O=-***-=O=-

It was midnight and her own head was aching viciously. The house was quiet when she slipped in, dragged herself up the stairs. It didn't surprise her to see Roarke, awake and on the bedroom 'link. She glanced at the monitor as she passed through and recognized the young, eager face of one of the engineers assigned to the Olympus Resort.

It made her think of the last few days of her honeymoon. There had been death there, as well. Big surprise, she thought as she leaned over the sink and splashed her face with cold water. There was never any escaping it.

She toweled off, then walked to the bed to sit and remove her boots. When they hit the floor, the effort of undressing further seemed beyond her. She crawled onto the bed and lay across it, facedown.

Roarke listened to his engineer with half an ear while he watched her. He knew the signs, the shadowed eyes, the pale skin, the slow, deliberate movements. She'd worked herself to the breaking point again – a habit that both fascinated and frustrated him.

"I'll get back to you on that tomorrow," he said and abruptly ended transmission. "You've had a bad one, Lieutenant."

She didn't stir when he straddled her and began to knead her neck and shoulders. "I know there's been worse," she murmured. "I just can't think of when right now."

"Louis Trivane's murder has been all over the news."

"Goddamn vultures."

He unhooked her weapon harness, wiggled it off her, and set it aside. "A prominent attorney gets himself hacked up in an exclusive private club, it's news." Competently, he worked his thumbs up her spine. "Nadine's called here several times."

"Yeah, she's buzzed Central, too. I don't have time for her."

"Mmm.'' He tugged her shirt free of her slacks, and used the heels of his hands. "Did you walk in on it, or was that added for entertainment value?"

"No, I walked in on it. Maybe if that idiot droid at the desk hadn't – " She broke off, shook her head. "I was too late. She'd already opened him up. She was still working on him, like a kid with a science project. She implicated Charles Forte."

"That's out, too."

"Of course it is," she said with a sigh. "You can't plug all the leaks."

"You have him in custody?"

"We're questioning him. I'm questioning him. He denies everything. I found physical evidence in his apartment, but he still denies everything."

Denies, she thought, while looking shocked, dislocated, terrified.

"Oh shit." She turned her head, pressed her face into the spread. "Oh shit."

"Come on." He kissed the top of her head lightly. "Let's get you undressed and into bed."

"Don't baby me."

"Try to stop me."

She started to shift, then moved quickly before she'd realized her intent or the need. She had her arms around him, her face buried against his shoulder, her eyes squeezed tight as if to block out visions.

"You're always here. Even when you're not."

"We're not alone, anymore. Either of us." Because he thought she needed it, he lifted her onto his lap. "Talk to me. You've got more than murder and evidence on your mind."

"I'm not a good person." She blurted it out before she could stop herself. "I'm a good cop, but I'm not a good person. I can't afford to be."

"That's nonsense, Eve."

"It's not. It's true. You just don't want to see it, that's all." She pulled back so she could look at him. "When you love somebody, you can handle the little faults, but you don't want to see the big ones. You don't want to admit what the person you've attached yourself to is capable of, so you pretend it's not there."

"What are you capable of that I'm blind to?"

"I beat Forte into pulp. Not physically," she continued, dragging her hair away from her face. "That's too easy, that's too clean. I ripped him to pieces emotionally. I wanted to. I wanted him to tell me what he'd done so I could finish it, close it away. And when Peabody had the balls to tell me she disapproved of my interview techniques, I trounced her. I sent her off duty so I could go back in and hammer at him again."

He was silent a moment, then rose to turn the covers down. "So let me recap. You walked in on a mutilation in progress, took the killer into custody, a killer who implicated Charles Forte in this and in other murders. This is a matter of days after you discover a mutilated body on your doorstep."

"It can't be personal."

"I beg your pardon, Lieutenant, but that's bullshit. To continue," he said, coming around to unbutton her shirt, "you then take Charles Forte in for interview, a man you suspect with good cause is responsible for several violent deaths. You play hardball, something which your aide whom you're training, and who, though highly competent, has considerably less experience than yourself in these matters, disapproves of. A police officer who did not walk into a room and find a woman gleefully carving a man into pieces. The news reports were quite specific," he told her.

"And," he added before Eve could speak, "you then reprimanded your aide when she questioned your judgment, subsequently sending her off duty so that you could resume your interrogation. Does that about sum it up?"

Frowning, she studied the top of his head as he bent to pull off her slacks. "You're making it black and white. It's not."

"It never is." He swung her legs into bed, pushed her down gently. "I'll tell you what it makes you, Eve. It makes you a good cop, a dedicated one. And a human one." He undressed, slipped into bed beside her. "And that being the case, it's probably best if I divorce you and get on with my life." He pulled her close until her head cozied into the curve of his shoulder. "Obviously, up till now, I've been blind to your hideous character flaws."

"You make me sound like an idiot."

"Good, I intended to." He kissed her temple, ordered the lights to dim. "Now, go to sleep."

She turned her head so that she could smell his skin on her way to sleep. "I don't think I can let you have that divorce," she said on a sigh.

"No?"

"Uh-uh. No way I'm giving up the coffee."

– =O=-***-=O=-

Eve arrived at her office at eight a.m. She had already been by the lab to harass them, which had, in part, cheered her. Her 'link was beeping with an incoming when she opened the door.

And Peabody stood at attention beside her desk.

"You're early, Peabody." Eve moved to the 'link, coded in, and waited for the messages to dispense. "You're not on for thirty minutes."

"I wanted to speak to you, Lieutenant, before I came on duty."

"All right." Eve put the messages on hold, turned to give Peabody her full attention. "You look like hell," she commented.

Peabody kept her gaze steady. She knew how she looked. She hadn't eaten or slept. Symptoms, she knew that were embarrassingly similar to those she displayed when a love affair ended badly. And this, she'd realized during the long night, was worse than any breakup with a man.

"I would like to formally apologize, Lieutenant, for statements made after the Forte interview. It was insubordinate and incorrect to question your methods. I hope that my lack of judgment in this matter will not influence you to dismiss me from this case, or from this division."

Eve sat, leaned back in a chair that creakily begged for lubricant. "Is that all, Officer Peabody?"

"Yes, sir. Except to say – "

"If you've got more to say, pull the stick out of your butt first. You're off duty and off the record."

Peabody's shoulders slumped slightly, but in defeat rather than relaxation. "I'm sorry. Watching him fall to pieces that way got to me. I wasn't able to divorce myself from the situation and view it objectively. I don't believe – don't want to believe," she corrected, "that he's responsible. It tainted my viewpoint."