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intheheartTitle: Part 1
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Officer Zachary Ryan and Doctor Summer Kendall meet, to their mutual annoyance.
Date: 2028
Notes: I resurrected NYU's College of Veterinary Science after realizing that I'd written myself into a corner with Ivy. Please forgive one tiny departure from reality.
Officer Zachary Ryan sauntered into the DC City morgue and grinned at the girl behind the desk.
They'd met before, so she knew what he was there for. She sighed, mock-irritated. "And what do you want?"
"The pleasure of your company, my dear," he told her, trying to remember her name. "Also directions to Dr. Kendall's office."
"Down the stairs, turn left, second door on the left," she told him. "Now go away, I've got work to do and I don’t have time for your flirting."
Zack touched his hat in her direction and headed down the stairs, still grinning. No matter how depressing his job got, there were always pretty women to brighten up his life. Hopefully Dr. Kendall would be the same.
He wasn't to know right away, because by the time he arrived at the office it was unoccupied. Zack tested the door, and finding it unlocked, shrugged and went in. She was probably mid-autopsy and he didn't particularly enjoy watching those, so he would wait for her here. See if he couldn't get a few clues to her personality while he was at it. Dr. Kendall was new here; none of the other guys on property crimes had met her, so Zack knew exactly nothing about her beyond her name, gender, and occupation. And offices told a lot about their occupants.
Zack liked to be prepared.
So. The office. It was very bare and carefully organized: someone Spartan by nature, with perhaps a touch of OCD. Dr. Kendall kept very few personal items about; a few pictures on the wall, a pressed rose, a broken pocketwatch for some reason. Unable to make head or tail of the pocketwatch, Zack scanned the pictures instead.
They looked like family, mostly. An elderly wedding portrait of a redheaded woman and a stocky, brown-haired man, with a boy of ten or so and a small, adorable girl standing beside them. The same girl-- or not, he decided, after looking closer, but definitely a related girl, holding hands with a rumpled brown-haired man in a park. The boy in the wedding portrait grown up, and flipping off the camera. Zack would have liked to know the story behind that one. Two women in white dresses, holding hands and bouquets... he could figure out that story easily enough, and grinned. His father would have had a seizure.
"What are you doing?" A sharp, female voice. Caught. Zack sighed, and turned around.
"Dr. Kendall?" He'd intended for it to be a statement, but it came out a question. The woman before him, though a very pretty redhead, surely couldn't be Dr. Kendall. She looked about fourteen.
"Yes," she said, a little less sharply. "What are you doing in my office?"
Definitely not fourteen, then. "I'm Officer Zack Ryan," he said. "I'm here about an autopsy report."
"Hmm." How did she do that? That humming sound made him feel like he was in kindergarten getting scolded by the teacher. "Whose?"
"Uh, Will Rushton," he said. "Black hair, six foot two, weighs about two hundred and eighty pounds. He might still be listed as a Doe. We only ID'd him three hours ago."
Dr. Kendall made the hmming noise again and walked past him, dumping her papers on her desk before sorting through them. Zack took the opportunity to study her a little bit closer. She had the pale, pale skin of someone who didn't spend enough time outside, and vibrantly red hair pulled away from an oval face, bright blue eyes and a lovely, soft mouth. Her tiny snub nose and round chin helped the childlike impression, as did her apparent lack of any curves whatsover. Pretty, he decided, finally, very pretty, but young.
She cleared her throat, and he started, guiltily.
She was eying him again. "Is there a problem, Officer?"
The last time he'd heard that, he'd been pulling someone over. "No problem," he said. "Just give me that report and I'll go."
"There isn't a report," Dr. Kendall said, then sat down at her desk and started going through papers.
Zack wasn't about to let her dismiss him so easily. "Excuse me?" He leaned over her desk and planted his hands on either side of her paperwork. "What do you mean, there isn't one?"
She gave him a glare. "There isn't one because I'm not finished. The toxicology screening only just came back. Get your hands off my desk."
Well, that was... an embarrassingly reasonable excuse. Zack removed his hands from her desk. "I'll just wait around until you're finished, then," he said, and leaned back.
Dr. Kendall sniffed. "I work better with no one watching me," she said. "Leave."
Zack gave her a pleasant smile. "Boss said if I came back without that report I'd end up in here permanently." He waved at the rest of the morgue. "So unless you want to end up with more work..."
"Don't be silly," she said. "Your boss will not physically harm you, it's against the law."
Oookay, so she couldn't take a joke. Zack marked that down for future consideraton. "Look, Dr. Kendall, we really need that report so we can move ahead with our investigations. If he wasn't murdered, it sort of screws our case."
She sniffed. "If that's all you need I can tell you right now. He was definitely murdered."
Zack raised an eyebrow. It had taken him years to learn that particular trick and he was very proud of it. "And you're sure of that because..."
She mimicked his expression perfectly. "He was heavily sedated when he died. He shouldn't have been able to move, much less trip off a... what was it, a fourth-floor balcony?"
"Fifth," Zack murmured.
"Yes, well, the internal trauma killed him anyway, but he didn’t commit suicide and it wasn't an accident." She considered that, briefly, then added, "Well, unless he enjoyed taking veterinary-grade sedatives."
Zack blinked. Veterinary-grade? "Is that possible? I mean, people take some weird shit for fun."
She was flipping through papers again and didn't bother to look up. "I called my sister just now. She said they use this particular drug to anesthetize horses before surgery. I doubt recreational use is particularly common."
"And your sister would know because..."
Dr. Kendall glanced up then, her expression unmistakably irritated. "My sister has a bachelor's degree in biology specializing in zoology from Cornell's and a master's from the New York University College of Veterinary Science. She knows what she's talking about."
Zack held up his hands in the universal signal of surrender. "All right, all right, I'm sorry." Not that she'd bothered to mention that her sister was a veterinarian, but all right. "So you're sure he was murdered."
"That's what I said," she snapped, and got up, walking to the door. "Now get out of my office. I will have the report sent to your office as soon as it's finished." She held the door open and gave him a pointed look.
Somehow, and Zack was not quite clear on the particulars, he found himself outside Dr. Kendall's office, facing her nameplate, with the slam of the door still echoing in his ears.
"There is something wrong with that woman," he said aloud, and went upstairs.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Officer Zachary Ryan and Doctor Summer Kendall meet, to their mutual annoyance.
Date: 2028
Notes: I resurrected NYU's College of Veterinary Science after realizing that I'd written myself into a corner with Ivy. Please forgive one tiny departure from reality.
Officer Zachary Ryan sauntered into the DC City morgue and grinned at the girl behind the desk.
They'd met before, so she knew what he was there for. She sighed, mock-irritated. "And what do you want?"
"The pleasure of your company, my dear," he told her, trying to remember her name. "Also directions to Dr. Kendall's office."
"Down the stairs, turn left, second door on the left," she told him. "Now go away, I've got work to do and I don’t have time for your flirting."
Zack touched his hat in her direction and headed down the stairs, still grinning. No matter how depressing his job got, there were always pretty women to brighten up his life. Hopefully Dr. Kendall would be the same.
He wasn't to know right away, because by the time he arrived at the office it was unoccupied. Zack tested the door, and finding it unlocked, shrugged and went in. She was probably mid-autopsy and he didn't particularly enjoy watching those, so he would wait for her here. See if he couldn't get a few clues to her personality while he was at it. Dr. Kendall was new here; none of the other guys on property crimes had met her, so Zack knew exactly nothing about her beyond her name, gender, and occupation. And offices told a lot about their occupants.
Zack liked to be prepared.
So. The office. It was very bare and carefully organized: someone Spartan by nature, with perhaps a touch of OCD. Dr. Kendall kept very few personal items about; a few pictures on the wall, a pressed rose, a broken pocketwatch for some reason. Unable to make head or tail of the pocketwatch, Zack scanned the pictures instead.
They looked like family, mostly. An elderly wedding portrait of a redheaded woman and a stocky, brown-haired man, with a boy of ten or so and a small, adorable girl standing beside them. The same girl-- or not, he decided, after looking closer, but definitely a related girl, holding hands with a rumpled brown-haired man in a park. The boy in the wedding portrait grown up, and flipping off the camera. Zack would have liked to know the story behind that one. Two women in white dresses, holding hands and bouquets... he could figure out that story easily enough, and grinned. His father would have had a seizure.
"What are you doing?" A sharp, female voice. Caught. Zack sighed, and turned around.
"Dr. Kendall?" He'd intended for it to be a statement, but it came out a question. The woman before him, though a very pretty redhead, surely couldn't be Dr. Kendall. She looked about fourteen.
"Yes," she said, a little less sharply. "What are you doing in my office?"
Definitely not fourteen, then. "I'm Officer Zack Ryan," he said. "I'm here about an autopsy report."
"Hmm." How did she do that? That humming sound made him feel like he was in kindergarten getting scolded by the teacher. "Whose?"
"Uh, Will Rushton," he said. "Black hair, six foot two, weighs about two hundred and eighty pounds. He might still be listed as a Doe. We only ID'd him three hours ago."
Dr. Kendall made the hmming noise again and walked past him, dumping her papers on her desk before sorting through them. Zack took the opportunity to study her a little bit closer. She had the pale, pale skin of someone who didn't spend enough time outside, and vibrantly red hair pulled away from an oval face, bright blue eyes and a lovely, soft mouth. Her tiny snub nose and round chin helped the childlike impression, as did her apparent lack of any curves whatsover. Pretty, he decided, finally, very pretty, but young.
She cleared her throat, and he started, guiltily.
She was eying him again. "Is there a problem, Officer?"
The last time he'd heard that, he'd been pulling someone over. "No problem," he said. "Just give me that report and I'll go."
"There isn't a report," Dr. Kendall said, then sat down at her desk and started going through papers.
Zack wasn't about to let her dismiss him so easily. "Excuse me?" He leaned over her desk and planted his hands on either side of her paperwork. "What do you mean, there isn't one?"
She gave him a glare. "There isn't one because I'm not finished. The toxicology screening only just came back. Get your hands off my desk."
Well, that was... an embarrassingly reasonable excuse. Zack removed his hands from her desk. "I'll just wait around until you're finished, then," he said, and leaned back.
Dr. Kendall sniffed. "I work better with no one watching me," she said. "Leave."
Zack gave her a pleasant smile. "Boss said if I came back without that report I'd end up in here permanently." He waved at the rest of the morgue. "So unless you want to end up with more work..."
"Don't be silly," she said. "Your boss will not physically harm you, it's against the law."
Oookay, so she couldn't take a joke. Zack marked that down for future consideraton. "Look, Dr. Kendall, we really need that report so we can move ahead with our investigations. If he wasn't murdered, it sort of screws our case."
She sniffed. "If that's all you need I can tell you right now. He was definitely murdered."
Zack raised an eyebrow. It had taken him years to learn that particular trick and he was very proud of it. "And you're sure of that because..."
She mimicked his expression perfectly. "He was heavily sedated when he died. He shouldn't have been able to move, much less trip off a... what was it, a fourth-floor balcony?"
"Fifth," Zack murmured.
"Yes, well, the internal trauma killed him anyway, but he didn’t commit suicide and it wasn't an accident." She considered that, briefly, then added, "Well, unless he enjoyed taking veterinary-grade sedatives."
Zack blinked. Veterinary-grade? "Is that possible? I mean, people take some weird shit for fun."
She was flipping through papers again and didn't bother to look up. "I called my sister just now. She said they use this particular drug to anesthetize horses before surgery. I doubt recreational use is particularly common."
"And your sister would know because..."
Dr. Kendall glanced up then, her expression unmistakably irritated. "My sister has a bachelor's degree in biology specializing in zoology from Cornell's and a master's from the New York University College of Veterinary Science. She knows what she's talking about."
Zack held up his hands in the universal signal of surrender. "All right, all right, I'm sorry." Not that she'd bothered to mention that her sister was a veterinarian, but all right. "So you're sure he was murdered."
"That's what I said," she snapped, and got up, walking to the door. "Now get out of my office. I will have the report sent to your office as soon as it's finished." She held the door open and gave him a pointed look.
Somehow, and Zack was not quite clear on the particulars, he found himself outside Dr. Kendall's office, facing her nameplate, with the slam of the door still echoing in his ears.
"There is something wrong with that woman," he said aloud, and went upstairs.
