your body is wonderland (Danny)

[Deleted]

The bodies had stopped. Rhean didn't understand it. There had been two a week, including the girls that landed in the hospital but survived. Twice a week, another name was added to the growing list for two weeks. And now, they had stopped. Rhean was both relieved and scared. Relieved, because it gave her time to focus on the victims at hand and the ones who managed to survive. She didn't think that it was possible that none of them saw his face or heard his voice. If it was a guy. The evidence was suggesting it was a female, but she didn't think so. There would have been more signs of a struggle, in her opinion. But in either case, she was sure that the killer had to have messed up somewhere. Especially if the suspect was a teenager. Nobody was that perfect.

Her leads had gone dry. Rhean was tired, and she was sure that there was something that she was missing. She hated to admit it, but she missed her partner. Honestly, she was scared that she wouldn't ever solve the case without Andre. But dwelling on him wouldn't help her any. Even though it was only two in the afternoon, Rhean decided to go home, get some sleep. Maybe take the next day off. If she rested up, then maybe, just maybe, she would be able to tell what she was forgetting.

Heather was at her dad's place. Rhean decided to let her stay there for the night. That way, the apartment would be nice and quiet. And she did crash as soon as she got home. She wasn't awake until that evening, when she heard voices outside her window. Rhean looked at the clock, and saw that it was after eight. Stretching, she got up and decided to get some laundry done. As she left for the laundry room, though, she was stopped by Mrs. Summerfield, an elderly lady who lived down the hall from her.

"Did you see the new family?"

"New family?" she shook her head. "I've been asleep. I haven't really seen anything" she said with a smile.

"A man and his two kids. And a giant mutt the size of a dinosaur"

"A dinosaur, huh?" Rhean giggled. She loved dogs. She would love to get one the size of a dinosaur. But she had no time for a dog. Dogs required attention and training and shots. Rhean just didn't have that kind of time.

"I bet he's divorced. And why does he have the kids and not her?"

"You know, that's a good question. Why don't you ask instead of standing here and gossiping, ok? Look, Mrs. Summerfield. I have to get this laundry done or I will be out of clean clothes for another month. You know me. Busy, busy, busy."

"How's that going for you? Any new cases?"

"Actually, yes. A serial killer. Specializes in old women with loose lips. You might want to lock your door at night. I have no idea who it can be" she said and got a fresh grip on her basket "good night, Mrs. Summerfield!" She left the building she lived in and walked over to the laundry room. The U-haul could be seen from the laundromat. As she unlocked it, she looked over, curiously. She saw the dog. It wasn't as big as a dinosaur. It was big, but cute. She saw a teenager carrying boxes. And a younger child. She looked down for a minute as she put her quarters in and started the washer up. She poured the soap in and looked back up as she was putting clothes in the washer.

He was gorgeous! That was Rhean's first thought when she saw the man. The brunette dropped her jaw. She had never seen a guy that pretty since...ever. Ok, her husband was handsome, god rest his soul. But he was never pretty. This one was pretty. She had to meet him. When she would have the time for a man in her life, she wasn't thinking about. She actually wasn't thinking about anything much. Just that she had to meet him.

Her eyes followed him and she watched carefully to see which apartment he was in. Then she practically overturned her basket to finish putting the load in. Slamming the lid down, she ran back to her apartment. She didn't even think about how lame this was. She grabbed her two cup measuring cup and checked herself in her mirror. It was a good thing she did, too, because her hair was a mess. Quickly, she brushed it out and fluffed it up until she was satisfied. Then, she left the hall, not caring that the old woman was watching her. She crossed over to where he lived and smiled politely at the movers that were coming out before knocking on the door with a smile.

[Danny Maxwell]

The move had gone relatively smooth, for a move. There were always problems here and there, something that was nearly forgotten, or a box that wasn't quite taped up right. Or at some point he would lose his son, because the kid was everywhere and nowhere all at once. The dog was less interested in listening to anyone today, which he should have expected. But, they got to the new apartment and the movers helped get everything into the house. By the time everything was inside, Danny sighed. He was unpacking what needed to be unpacked, but there was still a lot of work to be done. And it was about that time that Chris decided that he was tired, but only just tired enough to throw a fit at everything, especially the prospect of napping. Eventually, after he fought with him endlessly, he managed to sleep.

Walking out, he heard someone at the door and walked over to it, opening it up. He hadn't given his address out all over yet, so he assumed it was probably someone in the building. It could have just been a neighbour introducing themselves. And when he opened the door, he was pretty sure that was what it was, since he didn't recognise the woman at all. She was definitely attractive though, and although he wasn't some sleaze that was just going to say that outright, he was a guy and there was no harm in thinking it. Seeing the measuring cup though, he looked a little more curious. Was that really a borrow a cup of sugar visit? "Hey," he greeted politely, with a smile. "Can I help you?" Honestly, he was kind of glad someone showed up. He wanted to get to know people around here. It was all a part of the starting over process. Meeting new people and getting acquainted with everything. And come on, why wouldn't he want to get more acquainted with her?

[Deleted]

Her smile grew bigger when he answered the door. God, he was more gorgeous in person. Was that even possible? "Hi," she said, smiling widely. She hadn't said anything else, not until he asked if he could help her. "Oh" she looked down at the measuring cup. Her mind was a complete blank. What was she even here for? Well, to meet the prettiest man she had ever seen. But besides that. She looked at the cup. Flour? Salt? Sugar! Of course. She looked up at him and raised her free hand to rest it against the frame.

"Hi! Sorry, I know you're probably busy and I hate to interrupt. It's just, I'm trying to make cookies, and I am completely out of sugar. Would you mind if I borrowed a cup? I'd be happy to bring you some cookies or something." Now, now she realised how lame it was. Sugar? Seriously? It was too late to take it back now, though. Besides, she really was out of sugar. She just hadn't intended to make cookies. Well, until now.

[Danny Maxwell]

"Interrupt? Oh no, I just about to put off more unpacking," Danny admitted with a smile. And that wasn't untrue, he would have probably stared at the rest of the boxes for a while or just tried to get in a little TV time in between putting Chris to bed and unpacking. It was nice to have the quiet and to sort of get used to the apartment. And now, he liked the distraction of someone at his door. And why wouldn't he have liked the visit? He might not have known the woman, but even he couldn't deny that she was gorgeous. It was just fact. He couldn't help but notice. And when she mentioned the sugar, he nodded and smiled. "Sure, I have sugar. And no one can resist cookies." He said, but held the door open wider.

"You wanna come in? It'll just take me a second to remember where I put the sugar. Just don't mind the mess. My son's four, so while I did the unpacking thing, he did the let's throw things on the floor thing." He admitted with an apologetic smile. And the apartment wasn't so bad. The main furniture was all in place and some of the boxes were still neat, whereas others were half unpacked and set up and here and there there were signs that Chris had gotten his hands on random items and either tossed them on the floor or tried to set them up. And it probably explained why the empty fish aquarium on the kitchen table had dvds shoved into it. Leaving the door open for her to come in, he headed into the kitchen, checking a couple of cabinets before finding the one that had the sugar in it. At least he'd managed to get the kitchen in orderly shape earlier.

[Deleted]

Rhean let out a giggle when he said he was putting it off. "Well, if you need any assistance, I live right down there at 605" she offered, smiling up at him. God, she couldn't stop smiling. But he didn't seem to mind. In fact, she couldn't believe her ears when he invited her inside. Suddenly, she felt like a teenaged girl again. "uhhuh" she said with a nod. Really? That was all she could think of to say. Rhean stepped inside, inwardly yelling at herself to pull herself together. And at that moment, she realized that she didn't tell him her name. Did she? She didn't remember giving it. Looking up at him again, she smiled a little wider (if that was possible). "I'm Rhean, by the way. And don't worry about the mess. I have a daughter, and my apartment usually looks like it's been struck by a tornado"

Should she have told him that? Rhean suddenly felt a wave of panic. She wanted him to like her. Even though, having a man in her life could be dangerous. Even though she barely had time for anything other than working and sleeping. But, she thought that it could work. She could make time. Lots of cops had families. Of course, they weren't receiving creepy letters from a psycho murderer, but that was beside the point. She thought that it was doable. In order to keep her mind from rambling on any more, she bit her lip. "Where are you moving from?"

[Danny Maxwell]

"Thanks," Danny said, "I think we basically have things covered." He brought the sugar to the counter and set it down. "I'm Danny." He introduced, because once she had introduced herself, he realized he hadn't told her his name either. At her mention of a daughter, he couldn't help but laugh a little. At least she got it. Some people without kids just seemed to scoff or be a little offput by someone that had one running around. And the single dad thing was new to him; extremely new. He was used to being married, in a community with a lot of other families that seemed to look a lot like his own. A couple of kids, a wife and a dog. This was a different from that, but it could work. He was sure of that much. "Yeah? They're good at that."

"Oh, we're just from across the city. Ledbury Park." He said, just as he saw movement out of the corner of his eye as the dog decided to mosey her way over to sniff at Rhean. "Oh." Worried momentarily, he looked to the dog, then back at her. "I hope you're not afraid of dogs. She's harmless." Some people were, regardless, and he knew Mitzy was huge, but at least she wasn't running at her barking. Though, he did look a little apologetic, because he was sure the apartment seemed a little chaotic. He had boxes everywhere, two kids and a dog. He had no idea what kind of impression that made, but he was hoping not too bad of one.

[Deleted]

Rhean smiled, "Oh, good so I don't have the oddball nine-year old who doesn't believe in putting toys away. That's a relief" she said jokingly. "Natalia's my only child. Sometimes I'm not so sure what I'm doing," she explained herself. "I lost my husband several months back, so it's just the two of us." Which made her wonder about him. A guy like this, gorgeous, nice, great smiel and eyes--why was he here alone? Unless he wasn't here alone. But there had been no sign of a wife. She thought to check for a ring, but she didn't want to be too obvious.

As the dog walked over to her, she looked at him before getting on one knee. "I'm not exactly used to them. I've never had one. I always wanted one growing up, though. But we were always moving so my dad wouldn't let me have one." she looked at the dog as she reached over and scratched behind her ears. "But you look like you're the sweetest thing ever!" she added in a baby voice as she spoke to the animal.

[Danny Maxwell]

"Not at all," Danny shook his head. "I think it's a universal kid thing. I have two of them. The other one's fifteen," he said, then frowned. "I'm sorry to hear about your husband." He commented, "I'm in the middle of a divorce, so I have both with me." Well, he would be in the middle of a divorce if one was filed. He was technically still married to her, but he wasn't planning on going back to her either. This wasn't a separation. They might have been legally for now, but he didn't plan for it to stay that way forever. He was finished. But, even he wasn't quite ready to file for divorce yet. And she hadn't filed yet either, so it was at a standstill, but he was very much broken up, so it wasn't a whole lie.

He smiled, relieved when she was all right with the dog. "She is a sweetheart." He assured her. "So, what do you do?" He asked, curious. He didn't think that it was a bad idea to get to know one of the people in his building. Especially someone who was gorgeous and didn't think he was crazy with his two kids and chaotic looking apartment. Well, he hoped it wouldn't look chaotic by the time that he was finished unpacking and getting everything put away. But, it was an interesting first impression.

[Deleted]

So the nosy woman down the hall was right. Rhean looked at him, wondering who on earth would leave a man like him? She had just met him, but Rhean was usually pretty good at sizing people up. She had to be, for her line of work. And when he asked about her work, Rhean was hesitant. Usually, when the whole I'm a homicide detective came up, people tended to lose interest in her. "I work..." well that much was obvious. She paused, unsure of how to put it. "I work with forensics" there. It wasn't a total lie. She did work with forensics. It just so happened that she used them to solve murders. But hey, that was just a minor detail, right?

"What about you?" she quickly asked, wanting the focus off of her career. She didn't want to talk about the infamous crimes she was dealing with. He was cute, and she liked him. She would rather he not be scared away within ten minutes of meeting her.

[Danny Maxwell]

"Forensics? Impressive." Danny said, automatically assuming that she probably meant as a tech or something along those lines. Why else would someone say forensics? It made her even more interesting, admittedly. And at least she didn't seem completely scared away by his chaotic single dad status. Not that he thought it was always in chaos. But, moving tended to make that happen. He wasn't completely organized here yet, but it was nice to meet other people in the building. And that there seemed to be someone like her, he felt like maybe he was lucky with this place. Or at least, lucky with who he met first. Danny had yet to meet anyone else, really.

"I'm a high school teacher." He replied easily. Though it suddenly sounded pretty boring in comparison to someone who was working in forensics. That was an advanced field. Though, Danny wouldn't have picked a different career for the world. Once he fell into teaching it was perfect. Even if some days he had to deal with the world's most annoying teenagers to ever grace the planet, it was worth it.

[Deleted]

The man was classy.

Rhean knew there was no way that he did not catch her hesitation. She was too obvious about it. But he wasn't mentioning it. When he said it was impressive, though, Rhean had to fight with herself to avoid laughing. Impressive? More like dangerous. Unless he was blind or didn't believe in the news, he had to know what was going on. So why was he here? Still, she wouldn't question it. Why scare him away?

"Molding our next doctors and astronauts. Nice" she commented when he said what he did. Those were the first two careers to come to mind, so that's what she went with. "Degrassi or Lakehurst?" she inquired, as the teenager came out.

"Who are you?" Tara asked, looking the woman up and down. Rhean was taken aback, but quickly put her smile back on. She wanted so badly to make a good impression, that she was determined not to let anything bother her.

"Hi, I'm Rhean," she said, offering a hand. "Welcome. I know you'll like it here."

"No, you don't. You don't know me at all," Tara pointed out. She wasn't about to take the woman's hand, either. She was angry with her mother, and she wanted her out of her life, yes. But her dad did not need any other woman. He had her and he had Chris. She had heard of way too many cases where the parent ends up choosing the significant other over the children. So to Tara, this woman was instantly the enemy. Instead of shaking hands, she folded her arms. She knew she was being rude, but she figured maybe that would get rid of her.

[Danny Maxwell]

"Degrassi." And as if lured by the talk of high school, they were accompanied by his grumpy teenager. Well, apparently she was grumpy, given the attitude she copped with Rhean. In response to it, Danny raised an eyebrow at his daughter. He didn't know what the point of that was or what had been going through her head to decide that was the appropriate way to greet somebody. He tried to cut her a little bit of slack, given their circumstances. Her mother was gone, he moved them across the city from their old house and changed schools. It had to be difficult, but at the same time, he looked disapproving at the attitude momentarily and hoped that Rhean understood. Kids weren't always pleasant.

"Tara," he began, but was cut off when he heard the rustling coming from down the hall as the door was pushed open and out walked the four year old. He was supposed to be asleep, but he couldn't do it, not in the new place yet. And when he heard the voices, he was curious and not wanting to miss out on the action, he went out to see. "Chris? Why aren't you asleep?"

"I can't sleep." Chris replied and walked over to the gathering, rubbing his eyes, before he looked up at Rhean curiously.

Sighing, Danny looked over at Rhean, hoping that since she had a kid of her own that she'd understand their sudden arrival.

[Deleted]

"My alma mater," she said with a smile, when Degrassi was mentioned. As she sat there and watched the two, she went quiet, until he addressed the boy. "Tara? Is that your name?" she asked with a smile.

"Duh." she said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. Watching her father, she looked him in the eyes and echoed his tone "dad." What did he expect? A strange woman was in their already strange apartment. While Tara had been okay with the move because of the circumstances surrounding it, she was leaving behind friends and a potential boyfriend. And for what, so little Suzie Homemaker could come bat her eyes at him and whisk him away? Not happening.

When Chris came in, Tara glanced at her brother. "I have a candy bar you can have," she said, just because she knew what it would do. And hey, if that woman really thought she wanted to be here, then maybe a hyperactive four year old would change her mind. That wasn't even the worst thing she could do with Chris. But, since the woman was barely meeting them, maybe it would work.

Rhean, on the other hand, melted at the sight of the four year old. "Hi," she said, getting on one knee. "You're handsome. How old are you?" She already knew his age, but she was making conversation with the child. And how was he to know she already knew that he was four? Looking at him, Rhean made the decision that she would be bringing him a toy of some kind within the next couple of days. She was thinking a Thomas Train. Even if she couldn't get Tara to like her just yet, she could work on the little one.