Title: Smoke and Ashes

Fandom: Law and Order: Criminal Intent

Category: Gen.

Spoilers: None

Word count: 96

Summary: I heard rumours, I heard talk... A little bad press has never scared me off (Smoke and Ashes by Tracy Chapman)

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

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They say he’s abnormal, a fantastical enigma. (She hears the whispers as she walks through the Squad Room; learns to shut out the murmurs, like ambient white noise). Goren is oblivious, head bent over the desk as he runs a finger across an ink-bruised page. Sighs, sits up. Notices her.

They say he’s a freak. A weirdo. A psychic.

“I need a coffee. Want one?”

“Please.”

(He smiles; grins at her a little. Lumbers out of the too small chair, away from the too small desk).

They say he’s an aberration.

(Alex says he’s her partner).