Work Text:
She had done what she had set out to do.
Her job.
She had caught the criminal; the dreaded Belfast strangler.
So what...
Lives had been saved. Lives had been wrecked.
How far had she fallen this time?
Too far. Far enough.
Was she directly responsible?
He surely was!
The measuring scale fractured and bend by his grace.
Well... A sigh escaped her.
It was all over now.
For her at least.
The ripple effect would last a lifetime… for some.
She walked aimlessly around her apartment.
Paying no attention to the weeks of mail that littered her entrance, or the thin layer of dust that had descended on every surface.
She sat down.
Looked at the long dead flowers in the vase; standing on display like a morbid reminder among her otherwise magazine styled home.
She rose.
Unrest still ravaging her body.
Her fingers automatically picked up the card from the fresh bucket that had arrived.
Nothing new.
Nothing she hadn't read a thousand times before.
Another job finished; another job well done.
Blooming plants cut down only to die slowly and alone in her too quiet living space. Yet another expression of life's cruel irony; the frailty of beauty and mortality.
She lifted her glass.
Closed her eyes in anticipation.
Felt the coolness against her lips.
A few bitter drops hit her taste buds.
The glass was empty.
On the counter the bottle mocked her.
Effortlessly the bordeaux liquid gushed.
She took a sip and felt it flow through her.
Throat and stomach burning.
Another nibble.
It soothed her headache, a little. Yet she longed for something stronger.
She sat down again.
Leaning uncomfortably against the backrest.
The phone would ring.
Eventually.
It was only a matter of time.
New cases would come...