The Party III

Lea stood behind Levi, "You stoop down to stalking now, I see." She tells him, who was watching the redhead play the piano for the three-year-old that was having an episode minute previous.

Levi turned to Lea, his 'ex-girlfriend' he could tell she had been crying in the loo, most likely because of what he said earlier. He could see the trace of her attempting to cover up her swollen red eyes with makeup. A failed attempt, he thought.

Levi turned to look back at Sam, still seated at the wall piano beside Elizabeth.

"Observing," he corrects. Lea took a step to stand beside him, then took a sip of her drink. "Stalking," she interjected. Both their eyes remained on Sam, who was now ushering the toddler to her mother.

Lea scanned the redhead from head to toe, looking for flaws. Her hair was long and wavy, and in that lovely coppery shade, stylists could only hope to recreate. Her face was small, nose pointed, with thick nicely shaped brows over her grass-green eyes. Her lips were bow-shaped, and its flushed tone went well together with her white skin. Her cheeks had faint freckles, like stars dusted onto the sky, making her look more approachable.

The entirety of her face, Lea thought gave off a kind gentle feel to it. And the way she smiled, always seemed genuine. Her body, Lea noted as her eyes narrowed in jealousy. It was the body of a young woman. But then again, she thought maybe she was. Perhaps unlike her, Sam was still in her early 20's. She wasn't sure, for she still had that youthful glow on her. Or maybe, just maybe, she soaks in the blood of virgins every single night.

"She's pretty. Lazy, lazy but pretty." Lea commented dryly, earning a confused look from Levi. Lea gestured to Sam's entirety from a distance. "She's..." she said.

Levi scoffed inserted his hand in his pocket as he looked at Sam. "She's a workaholic. Far from lazy." he retorted.

"I meant her looks, she doesn't wear makeup, accessorize, and wear more fashionable clothing," Lea explained. "Some people don't waste their time over senseless endeavors like cosmetics and high heels. Nor caring what others think of their looks." Levi defended himself; he knew it was rich coming from him who had never stepped out of his flat, wearing nothing less than a 3-piece suit and dress shoes.

He saw nothing wrong with Sam; she was a lot of things, something he still wants to figure out. But not lazy.

He could tell she takes care of herself, exercises regularly, eats healthy most days, and takes care of her hygiene particularly. He could tell by the smell of her hair and the state of her teeth. She most likely had braces growing up, that's why they were perfectly straight. Her purse also revealed it, a floss and sanitizer had been showing in the side pockets, easily accessible for her to use it. She was health-conscious enough, hinting to mild OCD.

"So, maybe that's why you like her," Lea said. "You like her because she's more like you... indifferent to people's opinion." She added, but her tone suggested being 'more like him' was not a good thing. Levi opened his mouth a second too late to deny the accusation, no, he didn't fancy her like she was suggesting. Sam merely intrigued him.

She was brilliant, a fact. Odd unlike most people, which was good in his opinion, because people either annoy him or bore him.

"Too late," Lea said slyly at him, he glared down at her. Then looked back at Sam, who was now looking at them. Sam smiled at Lea, and Lea smiled back.

Sam made her way to the two, offering her hand to Lea. "Hello, I'm Sam." she greeted Lea. Lea took it, shaking gently. "Lea, a pleasure to meet you. So, how'd you two met?" the curly blond pried; Levi could smell her evil plot miles away, and he rolled his eyes.

He reckoned she's planning something to embarrass him, revenge on their history together. She never did forgive him, not that he ever asked for her forgiveness or ever will.

"I work at Guy's; he goes there sometimes," Sam says, then turns to look at Levi. "Speaking of, what happened to your experiment?" she asks him, hinting on the limb.

Levi's eyes suddenly filled with genuine excitement, not many, no. No one had ever asked him of his experiments before. Most people find his morbid fascinations disturbing, and there she was curious.

He opened his mouth to explain, but closed it again, saying, "I'll show you." He grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the door. "Nice meeting you, Lea!" Sam said, waving at her.

"You too--" Lea stopped, realizing the two were out the door before she knew it. Lea frowned, both amused and confused while Lisa approached her. "Everything okay?" the blond lawyer asked.

"Yeah. Did you see that?" Lea asked, gesturing to where the two disappeared. Lisa shook her head, wondering what she meant. "No, what was that?" she asked.

"Levi, his face. He was genuinely excited, then he just dragged her up to his flat. I mean, he never initiated any form of physical contact with me, when we were--" she stopped herself from saying it; instead she just added, "That was weird." Lea explained, Lisa listened intrigued.

From their time together ages before, Lea had always been the one that initiated affection, not once did he ever touch her on his own free will. It was one of his eccentricities that she had a hard time accepting back then, but she still accepted it. Only, all of it wasn't real. She was but a test subject in one of his experiments.

Sam stood inside Levi's kitchen; on the wooden table was the familiar leg. "Bloody hell," Sam said, looking at the severed leg. Levi stood beside her, observing her.

Sam opened her small black purse and took out a pair of latex gloves. "Oh, sorry, can I take a look at it?" Sam asked, in the middle of wearing the gloves, slightly sheepish for assuming she could examine his 'possessions'.

"It's grand." He tells her with a nod.

She laid her bag on the kitchen table and took the limb in her hand, examining it in wonder. It felt heavy in her arms, not unusual considering it belonged to a man who was over 6-foot-tall. She studied it in awe, taking mental notes on the skin, colour, smell, and feel.

"I smell bleach." She comments.

"Yes, I'm impressed you could smell it." Levi agrees.

"Me too, it's faint. What about this part?" Sam asked, pointing at a portion of the limb, which was reacting differently than the bleached side. Levi smiled, happy to know she didn't merely look, but observed. Enough that she was able to tell that the limb had been Experimented in sections.

Half an hour later, Marco climbed the stairs quietly after Lisa, towards Levi's flat. Yes, to spy. The couple acting like children was nothing new, especially if it was to deal with Levi, who they considered an overgrown child.

Yes, to the world he's a brilliant criminal psychologist in a crisp burgundy suit and slick blonde hair.

Yes, a private detective even. A graduate chemist and a Consultant to Criminal Investigation Department.

But to those who truly knew him, he is an antisocial, fussy, rude, self-righteous, narcissistic Man-child with a gambling problem, and enjoys nothing more than solving puzzles.

Lisa pushed the door open, making little to no noise as Marco followed suit. The two had been missing from the party downstairs for more than 30 minutes, and so the couple decided to investigate.

Marco had seen a lot of startling and even upsetting things in Levi's kitchen, severed head, eyeballs, ears, all sorts of body parts either soaked in some concoction or rotting in the bin. And he learned always to be prepared but never did he see this one coming.

Sam was sitting on a chair, eyes glued on the microscope, with Levi behind her, leaning in, their faces side by side inches apart. The man he knew for years, standing so close beside someone, a woman even, was something of a shock.

The Levi he had first met in Uni and had gotten to know over the years, had always hated unnecessary physical contact. Avoided it like the plague, but he wasn't against using his charms towards the ladies if the need arose. Marco speculated that Levi secretly had some sort of social anxiety, that he still denies even to that day.

"Bloody hell. It's a plant!" Sam said, enthused, tearing her eyes off the microscope for a moment and looking at Levi. "Algae." He agreed, grinning at her.

"What is it doing there? Fascinating, an organism growing in human flesh, this is fascinating. What else do you have here?!" Sam asked, excitedly.

"I've got a tongue in a shoebox; I'm comparing it to a batch exposed in the light," Levi said, guiding her to the said shoebox.

Marco frowned, weirded out at the two. While Lisa smiled, gushing like a teenager. "Look at them, they are so adorable together." the blond whispered.

"They're bonding over...a a limb, Lisa," Marco replied horrified, causing Lisa to giggle and their cover is blown.

Sam and Levi turned to the source of the noise, there knelt by the slightly ajar door was Lisa and Marco, clearly lurking.

"Hey." Sam greeted the two. The couple stood immediately and arranged their clothes. "Sorry, don't you guys want to eat? You've been gone for over half an hour. We thought you might be hungry." Lisa lied through her teeth.

Levi glared at Marco; the bearded Sleeven was poking in his business again, he thought.

"Oh. We have? How rude, I'm sorry. We were--" Sam started, only to stop when she realized the next things that will flow out of her mouth would be considered weird. So, she settled for one word, "Science."

"Yes, we can see that." Lisa joked, pointing at the leg on the table. "I'm surprised you don't find Levi's hobby unsettling." She adds as they walk back down the party. Marco held the urge to comment; he had seen her do nastier things in the morgue just last week.

Sam followed behind Lisa, "Not really, I'm a Forensic Pathologist and cut dead people for a living daily. I've seen burnt, chopped, grated, pulverized, rotting human bodies, and the like. It's kind of difficult to faze me now." Sam explained.

"Once I saw a head in a jar with water before." Marco offered, making his way down the stairs and the three following behind.

Sam turned to Levi,

"Really?! What did you do with it?!" she asked the blond, her tone too excited for her liking, causing Lisa to stifle a laugh.

"It was saltwater, and I measured how long it would take for the tissues to turn into "grave wax" Levi informed, proudly.

"Oooh...how did that go?" Sam asked, wholly enthralled at the notion of "grave wax", a fatty acid that halts bacterial growth.

Lisa giggled all the way down the stairs, bumping into Marco as she passed him. Marco disturbed, frowned following behind her. He leaned closer to his wife, "They are so weird." He whispered.

Lisa, in response, broke into a broader smile, "I think it's sweet. They get to be weird together." she said, finding it all so romantic.

Lisa instructed Sam and Levi to eat, which they did while discussing Levi's past experiments. Sam, all ears as he explained the process and the results after. They talked about chemistry, science, and even her work at Guy's. The two stopped only when they noticed some of the guests leaving.

Sam checked her watch, 10:21 PM it says, she felt her mobile vibrating in her pocket. She fished it out and read that she had 15 unread messages.

She sighed when her phone rang, "Sorry, I have to take this." She told Levi. The blond nodded in understanding.

"Chief, no, why? I see. Okay, 7 Eastbourne Rd." Sam answered,

"You mean Jackson Detectives?" the Chief on the opposite line asked, intrigued.

"Exactly, why?" "Never mind. I'll send someone to pick you up."

"Okay. I'll be waiting." Sam replied, intrigued at the undertone on the Chief's voice when Jackson Detectives was mentioned.

"Sorry, I've been--" Sam started, "Summoned for a case by the Chief Superintendent of Criminal Investigation Department." Levi finished for her; he heard enough of the conversation to get the general gist.

"Yes. Some guy from the higher up was found dead in a quarry. Excuse me for a moment, I'll just say goodbye to the Watsons and the others." He nodded.

Levi felt odd, odd that he felt a sense of disappointment knowing she's leaving. He moved towards the door and unhooked her black blazer. Blazer, she removed an hour and a half ago because she felt warm. Sam grabbed her bag on a chair and walked towards the door, eyes searching for Levi. She turned to the hallway and saw him waiting with her blazer.

She smiled as he helped her in, and she thanked him. He opened the door for her and accompanied her outside, waiting for her ride to arrive.

Lisa, Marco, and Mrs. Whitehall spied by the window, watching the two standing by the street. Levi walking a woman, (anyone that is) out of the flat was something new. He didn't care if people left; he didn't care enough to walk them out.

"That reminds me of my Research community," Sam commented when Levi explained about his Grapevine in London, a group of ordinary people from all walks of life who finds joy in uncovering other people's secrets. In layman's term, Nosy. His little informants, spies around the city.

Levi urged her to continue, "Well, you know the Program--I've got a group of people helping out with my research, basically they collect things for me to examine and add in the program. Earth, plant, dirt, etcetera, and they send it to my lab and I add them to the list with each specific signature. Since I cannot go and collect the specimens myself." Sam explained, and Levi nodded.

The two stood by the empty street, cold air enveloping them. Levi looked down at her, standing beside him, "Where did you meet them?" He asked, intrigued.

"Mostly, during seminars and lectures, I do from time to time. I give them tasks, simple enough--there was this time in Dublin where I returned home with a suitcase filled with grass from different parts of the city. There was a huge fuss over it at the Airport, they thought it was some new type of recreational drugs." Sam deadpanned recalling the day, she was held by security. Levi laughed in response, followed by Sam.

A police car came into view, and Sam waved at the three spies by the window, Lisa, Marco, and Mrs. Whitehall waved back, caught red-handed. Levi opened the door for her when the car stopped; she smiled at the blond Irishman again. She found him to be quite a gentleman.

"Thank you. Well, I'll see you around. Goodnight." Sam said, giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek, "Goodnight." He replied, smiling down at her.