First off, I would like to say that I am truly sorry for this overly late, overdue update. School's just been throwing out so much stuff and lately we had course planning for out grade 11 and 12 years. Truly i am sorry, so I'll understand completely if no one reads this and doesn't review. But if you do actually find the time to read it and remember this fic please drop a few words m'kay?

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"Find anything yet?"Sarah, the medical examiner of the Jeffersonian asked as she carded herself onto the platform.

Her brother Peyton looked up from the remains, "Gee, morning Peyton, how's my brother doing? Fine, thanks Sarah, and you? Not bad. See, Sarah, that's what normal people call a conversation starter." The glare he got in return made him resume his sister's original topic.

"Well, the snow covered everywhere so there's no way to find any more footprints, car tracks or blood stains anymore at the crime scene, but we did find something with the body. Unfortunately, it's still pretty vague."

"We'll take what we can get."

"The blunt force injury to the head indicates that he was hit with some sort of blunt stick...thing."

"Wow, that's very informative," Sarah replied sarcastically.

Peyton decided to ignore her comment, "as well, Dr. Dodson found some fractures around the left wrist bones."

"So? They could've happened way before he was killed."

"No way, there wasn't any callus formation around that area to show that it healed. Since it takes months for that to form and well, dead bodies don't heal I think it's pretty safe to say that he fractured his wrist earlier before he died."

"Just the left one? That's weird. Anything else? I have to start writing the report on this case."

"Yes, I've found traces of what appears to be cotton from cotton balls on the front of his suit, as well as a strand of tinsel stuck on it, and ketchup stains on the shirt he wore inside. And that piece of wet, yellow paper we found in his pocket? The lab techs reconstructed the picture on it to their best and managed to find the material of it as well as the ink, and they found that it matches the burger wrappers of a Fried 'R' Us food joint."

"So cotton balls, tinsel, ketchup and Fried 'R' Us wrappers were found on the body."

"Sounds like the beginning of a really gross joke," forensic artist Maurecia walked up, having heard on Sarah's last line.

"Actually, it's the beginning of finding the real scene where the murder took place. I couldn't find any trace of the dirt located in the region of pond which means Santa here was most likely just dumped there."Peyton said, "but you're totally right, it does sound like a really bad joke."

"So where's a place where we can find cotton balls, tinsel and a Fried 'R' Us?"

Maurecia contemplated, "well, I know they use cotton balls for snow in the West End Shopping Centre, and I'm betting there'll be tinsel there at Santa's chair, and while I don't go there since they don't treat the cows humanely there is a Fried 'R' Us in the food court."

"So he was killed at the mall in the seedy side of town, why am I not surprised?" Sarah sighed and started walking away before anyone could answer her rhetorical question, "I'll go phone Dr. Dodson and tell her the news."

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"Owen Harding was the best Santa we've ever seen," a woman, somewhere in her forties, was busy typing something into a computer at the Santa Claus temp agency.

"Was that because he was the only few ones who actually looked like Santa?" Geoff asked, looking around; except for one or two fat men and one old guy who looked like he walked out of a Santa Claus film, the other 'Kris Kringles' were either very tall, skinny, Asian, black, or all of the above.

"That and he was always so jolly," the woman, secretary Anna Lockeheart replied, "I'm sorry if I can't give you any more information, but I don't work closely to the temps and my boss Peter Greer is away on a lunch meeting." She pushed back her orange brown hair with her manicured hands; long nails painted in a blinding red, green and white pattern except for one, which looked like it had been cracked. Slightly unbecoming for a woman her age Bridgette thought.

"Well, thank you Ms. Lockeheart, we'll keep in touch."

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"I don't believe it, we have no leads," Bridgette said, plopping herself unceremoniously onto her couch while avoiding pressure on her hurt arm, "Duke Vaughn and the rest of his pick pocketing gang have alibis. What about Izzy?"

"In jail," Geoff replied in a tone that screamed you shouldn't be so surprised "something about an arson charge."

"Go figure," she stood up and walked over to her desk opening her top drawer, "did you notice that that secretary was wearing some pretty expensive jewellery?"

"Yeah, I was going to talk to her about walking around like a giant mugging target, but you had to drag me out of there. What's so important about being in you office at noon?' He stopped and stared at the thing that Bridgette was holding in her good hand. "Mistletoe? Bridge, are you trying to say something?" He grinned a one thousand watt smile.

A sigh of exasperation rose from Bridgette, "Leshawna will only get Beth out of prison if you and I kissed, under the mistletoe."

"Why?"

"I don't know, something about Harold and feeling romantic. Can we please just act mature and kiss so I can get Beth out of jail?" Never thought I'll have to say that sentence in my life

Geoff seemed to have been thinking the same thing as he showed a strange look before speaking. "Okay then, we'll be just two professional friends giving each other a friendly platonic kiss under the mistletoe as a favour to another friend." He tried to sound like it was no big deal, but it was certain that there was a tiny Geoff somewhere inside his mind jumping up and down doing a solo wave and going "Boo Yeah!!!"

"All we have to do is wait for Leshawna to get here." Are you there God? Can you please make Leshawna get caught in a non-deadly, but time consuming accident?

"How's the case going Bridge?' Leshawna said strutting into her office, decked in a dark green woman's suit. Well, gee, thanks for listening to me Big Guy.

Leshawna grinned at the usually composed pair of investigator stand around, not sure what to do, 'I see you've hung the mistletoe."

"Yes well, is Beth going to spend Christmas with her family?" Bridgette asked, in reply to her statement.

The attorney smiled, "Already made arrangements girl. Now I held my part of the bargain, what about you?"

Geoff and Bridgette both cleared their throats.

Here it goes, Bridgette thought as Leshawna gently pushed Geoff towards her.

"You know Leshawna, I could arrest you for blackm-" Geoff's little speech and plan was quickly cut short when Bridgette, with her good arm pulled him down by one of his lapels and ..well, kissed him.

Don't think about it Bridge, just act normal, you are doing it for Beth, this is completely platon- wow, I've almost forgotten how great a kisser he is-NOT something you should be thinking about Bridge! The good friend inside Bridgette's head was trying to hold her ground against Bridgette's feminine side, who was currently noticing how buff her partner still was. Geoff wasn't faring better either.

I wonder if she'll kick my ass if I tried some tongue action, whoa, don't go there man, think about something else...toenails...Chef's cooking...Chef in a dress! Ah there we go...

Finally Bridgette's death grip on his lapel loosened and they pulled apart. It was a sweet, simple kiss, not the full blown make-out sessions they used to have but still.

Bridgette huffed, trying to get her breathe back, "There, was that enough seconds?"

A slightly shocked lawyer just nodded, "More than enough." Honestly she wasn't expecting them to have kissed at all, but seeing as she didn't want two disgruntled investigators to be mad at her she didn't voice the little tidbit. Regaining her composure, she managed to continue, "Admittedly, I've seen worse form you guys."

"Well, uh, yes, then...so Beth's off the hook?" Apparently, reminding someone of past make out sessions after they've kissed their make out partner for the first time in years, reduces people into stammering idiots.

"She'll be off cutting the Christmas turkey at the farm in a few hours. Gotta go, girl, I have stuff to do and I guess you and Geoff here may need a little alone time." The innuendo was not lost as the lawyer strutted out the door.

An awkward pause formed in the room, but honestly, was that unexpected?

"So, um, Bridge, I think I'll go...check on the mall security tapes, you know with the whole Owen was killed there things and..."

"Yeah, that's great, I think I'll stay behind and work on some...stuff, murder stuff you know?"

"Yeah, gotta help Peyton and the others solve this murder, make the world go round again."

"Yeah..."

"Yeah..."

There was another moment of pause before Geoff finally walked out of there, until Peyton pushed him back into the office.

"Dr. B, I've found the murder weapon! It's...why is there mistletoe hanging in you office?" All three looked at the spring of mistletoe that the doctor had forgotten to put away.

"That's just decorations, Peyton, now what were you trying to say?" While Bridgette hated lying it was definitely a lesser evil than telling the truth in this situation right now.

Peyton stared for a few seconds and with unexpected speed continued talking as if nothing happened. "A candy cane: that was the murder weapon," he paused, "well, it's actually a fake one. You know those giant decorative candy canes? I found minute traces of red paint on the skull, at first we thought it was blood but after a while I was able to trace the paint to its maker. They made the candy canes used at the mall display. This company uses a special lightweight coloured chrome covering so yeah, pretty brutal if you get hit by one of these."

"Great, we'll call the CSIs and have a look there. Good work Peyton." With that Bridgette and Geoff quickly walked out of the office as fast as they could before their coworker could question the mistletoe even more.

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I'm telling you, these displays are cleaned every night. Even if it is a murder scene I doubt you'll find anything," Ms. Lockeheart fiddled with her expensive looking necklace as uniformed clad people snapped pictures and took samples of the Santa Claus setting in the currently closed mall. A few extra elves and Santas had gathered around, their interests peaked from watching the scene from the pub where they were celebrating a good season's end (minus the murder of course.) Unfortunately the mall was clearly underfunded as the area was not under video surveillance, and the security guards there were either middle aged snoozers or teens just passing g in the job to make a few bucks. None of them had bothered going there as there was usually a Santa Claus temp worker fixing things up.

"Blood is actually very hard to clean completely, usually ultraviolet lights well do," the scientist replied. Bridgette turned towards the crime scene technicians, "given the nature of this crime we're obviously looking for low-velocity impact spatters."

As if on cue one of the techs announced, "I've found blood stains on one of the candy canes."

Casting an "I told you so" look towards the secretary she marched off towards the technician, without even saying a word to Geoff, which for some reason was becoming a new trend recently, leaving him a moment alone with Lockeheart.

"You know you shouldn't flash your jewellery like that, unless you want to be mugged of course."

"Oh of course, how silly of me. My boyfriend got me these and, well, you know how women are. I'm sure you've dated quite a few." She briskly ran her fingers up his arm, to which Geoff quickly pulled back, a little perturbed. First the kiss, now this?

"And, uh, who's your boyfriend?"

Lockeheart sighed, "I know I probably should've told you and Dr. Dodson earlier, but he's or he was Luke Vaughn. I'm sorry I didn't think it was important."

"Uh huh, you didn't think it was important to say that you dated a murder suspect. Did you know where he got the money for your gifts?"

"No! Of course not, who do you think I am?" she spoke a little too quickly for Geoff's liking but before he could reply his partner called him over.

"Geoff, we think we found how come there was so little blood on the floor," he looked and saw that, not only had they already bagged the killer candy, but they had lifted the rug where the fake presents were placed. There, on the newly revealed area shone a UV light revealing small round blood stains.

"Why is it round?" confusion was evident in his face, "Aren't blood stains, you know...more splat?" His accompanying hand gesture did not amuse Bridgette who merely replied in a professional tone, "Bloodstains that have dripped due to gravity depend on the type of surface it collides with. On a smooth surface like glass or these waxed floors stains are circular or more 'clean' while on uneven surfaces like concrete, that's where you find your 'splat.' But that's not the point look at this empty bag used for toys," she shone the UV light, showing large amounts of blood in it. "Most likely the murderer stuffed Owen in here so he/she could drag him outside, to the car. Then the killer came back, filled the bag with fake presents and toys, cleaned the area and then moved the display slightly to cover the area. Who here has access to the mall after closure?"

One of the Santas moved forward from the crowd and answered, "The Santa Claus display always attracts lots of people and donations which means a lot to this cheap skate mall, so the mall give the agency a copy of the keys."

"So we're back to square one," Geoff sighed, "this is not turning out to be the Christmas I wanted."

"We're not through yet, I think I've found something." Bridgette reached deep into the bag with a pair of tweezers, something quite difficult when you only have one good hand. Geoff had asked her to slow down for a while and let the others do most of the work but she was steadfast. "Got it!" Smiling like she found a pot of gold she held up her hand with the tweezers holding something. Geoff turned his head to different angles to try to guess the name of this mysterious object, until his partner blandly replied, "it's a piece of a fingernail."

A flash of realization ran across his face, "Oh..." he paused, "but it's green. Why would anyone wear green nail polish it's totally not a good colour...not that I know anything about makeup or anything..."

"Well I know someone who had a broken nail and colours them in Christmas colours..." she trailed off, looking at Ms. Anna Lockeheart who was trying to make a run for it.

"Hey, that secretary killed Owen, get her!" With the bravado of an army of overweight knights the Santa Clauses dog piled her; definitely not the best thing to experience.

"Whoa, okay guys get off of her, we don't need to put her in a hospital, a jail would be just fine." Geoff, managed to pull some of the guys off of her, with the help of the other officers, finally hauling Lockeheart up roughly by the arm and cuffing her while reading her rights.

Bridgette stared at the dishevelled women incomprehensively, "I don't understand, why did you kill him? He was such a nice guy..."

"I think I know," Geoff said roughly, "she was in on the whole pickpocketing business with her boyfriend Vaughn. When Owen found out you weren't sure if Vaughn's bribe could keep him silent, so you decided to have an after hours talk with him. One thing led to another, Owen tried to leave, you hit him with the candy cane, he blocked you at first..."

"Which explains the broken wrist..." she realized gravely.

"And then you hit him in the head." He finished, his face unemotional.

"I didn't mean to do it!" The murderer shouted, in hysterics, "I didn't know it would kill him, he was freaking out, wasn't sure what to do I just did it to stop him from going crazy and running off. I didn't mean it...I just...panicked" Finally the usually cheery face of secretary Anna Lockeheart was flooding with tears.

Geoff pulled her towards the police van through the crowd of stone faced Santas, but not before turning around and seeing Bridgette shake her head sadly before turning slowly and ordering the technicians.

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Some Time Later...

"It's a change that reaches down and suddenly lifts you…"

Bridgette, Geoff and Gwen slowly walked together in the cemetery, their feet leaving small prints in the snow that was beginning to cover the grass.

"At the end, of a rainy day when you sat alone and cried…"

The place was almost completely remote, (not too many people want to go to a cemetery during Christmas time) the trees that were sparsely planted were all bare, except for the softly falling snow that begins to land on it.

We've been coming here way too many times lately Geoff thought, casting a glance at the two women at his side, the blonde holding a bouquet of flowers and the other holding a framed photo.

"It's a sign, that lets you know there is a life awaiting…"

Finally they reached their destination and found that they weren't the only ones there. Leshawna was standing beside Beth, who was holding a suitcase, obviously on her way to the family farm afterwards.

The trio stopped and stood beside the other two, they looked at each other, not a word spoken, because not a word needed to be.

"The day, you make your peace with the love in you that died…"

"I guess nice people unfortunately do finish last, huh?" Beth said breaking the silence as she read Owen's grave stone.

Tearfully Bridgette knelt down and placed the bouquet at the foot of the stone, as she thought about her job and all the people and things she sees and all the crooks she and Geoff catch. "What a bittersweet success." she said under her breathe.

Gwen was next placing down the framed photo of the two of them on Total Drama Island, "I really would've split the money with you big guy."

"I called the penitentiary, they'll be bringing Izzy over under close guard so that she could, you know say good bye," Leshawna mentioned, wishing she could lean on Harold's shoulder for support.

"When the pain dies down…And the dam becomes a river…"

"You know, I bet Owen would love that. In fact, I bet he's looking down on us happy that people still care about him.

The wind blow suddenly and Bridgette's spiritual side could've sworn she heard laughter coming from somewhere, "I think you might be right Geoff." She looked at him and smiled, feeling her cheeks blush. Maybe the kiss was a sign…

"The fire burns out under the rain…"

"Well I better get going if I want to catch my train, Merry Christmas you guys. Good luck in the afterlife Owen." Beth left, carrying her surprisingly small case with her. Leshawna followed Beth out of the gates of the cemetery.

"Can you feel it now? It's gone from you forever..."

After a moments silence Geoff finally spoke, "Come on, let's go home, Gwen you have to get up early to catch your flight to your mom's place and Bridgette has to pack for her stay with me and my family."

"It's my family and I, and what makes you so sure I was going to say yes?"

He, thinking about the kiss, placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, cautious about the sling, "Let's just say I know you too well."

"Fading out under the rain…"

And they walked away in content silence, knowing that wherever Owen may be, whether in an afterlife, or truly just buried six feet under, he would've been happy that despite it all, he'd brought his friends closer together.

"When the pain dies down...."

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There my long over due upate had finally been posted. Again I apologise, I've been trying to have better time management, but you can see how that turned out.

Hopefully i'll ahve time in the future write fics and update them in good time. I already planned the next fic and am wanting to update some of my other stories, so we'll see.

Admittingly i like the end of this chapter more than the beginning For those of you wondering, the song lyrics in the quotations are form "When The Pain Dies Down" by Chris Stills It's a very good song and the tune really sets up the mood for the end. You can have a listen if you want to: http://( ).( )com/watch?v=( )1upCCKA6YS8 just take away the parenthesis ( ) and you should be able to get there

So...will Geoff and Bridgette hook up sometime in this series? All I'm gonna say is maybe, but it does look like Bridge's resolve is slowly crumbling down...