Justice is ServEd

It Begins with an Ed

Summary: After Edd's parents die in an accident, Edd moves back to Peach Creek, finding work with the Peach Creek Police Department's Forensics team. Feeling good about this opportunity Edd goes in to his first day with a smile, ready to prove himself and make his late parents proud. Unfortunately, things don't always go the way Edd wants and he finds himself facing many obstacles from past and present.

Disclaimer: I don't own EEnE, or the characters, nor do I claim ownership of Nat as he belongs to c2ndy2c1d. All I own is the plot and most of the OC's.

Beep, beep, beep, beep…

Ocean blue eyes fluttered open sleepily at the slow beeping of an alarm clock and a soft yawn was barely heard over the quiet beeping. A pale thin arm lifted from underneath the light blue comforter to gently tap the off button before retreating back underneath the warm layer of cloth and hazy with sleep eyes closed slowly. A quiet sigh filled the room before the rustle of fabric and a tall lanky figure sat up in the bed in the center of the room. A bit longer than shoulder length black hair fell softly around slim shoulders and a long-fingered hand ran through long bangs pushing them back out of his eyes before a jet black beanie with two white stripes along one side was placed over the mess, hiding all but the ends from view.

"Good morning Jim, did you sleep well?" Eddward Vincent voiced quietly to his potted cactus plant sitting on the window sill on the left side of the room. A small gentle smile spread onto a smooth pale face as the man stood up from his bed and turned around to make it. Once it was perfectly smooth with blankets tucked in carefully, he then slowly removed his light blue pajama pants and button-up shirt, folded them neatly and placed it on top of his pillow for use tonight. Edd shuffled over to his dresser where his dark blue jeans rested neatly folded upon the wooden piece of furniture. Picking them up he shook any wrinkles out despite having ironed the jeans the night before and slipped them on pulling them up to rest on slim hips.

Glancing out the window to the outside he smiled at the orange-red hues that had begun to overrun the blues and purples as the sun inched further up into the sky from the horizon. Making his way to his closet he opened the door and pulled out a freshly ironed white button-up shirt along with a black sweater vest. He checked the time on his alarm clock, quickly put on his shirt and sweater and after a pause grabbed a black belt and looped it through his jeans before pulling on some socks and leaving his room.

Crossing the hall, he walked into the bathroom, flicked on the light and grimaced at the brightness stabbing his still sleepy eyes. After relieving himself he washed his hands and then brushed his teeth until his watch beeped softly signaling that he could spit. Checking his reflection out in the mirror he nodded slightly, pleased with his appearance before turning off the light and leaving the room, closing the door behind him. After walking down the stairs at the end of the hall he entered the kitchen and grabbed a bag from the fridge with his lunch for the day and set it next to his car keys, wallet, and charging cell phone. Sitting at the table in the middle of the room, he reached for a banana and orange and began peeling them.

Popping a slice of orange into his mouth he smiled as he thought about his upcoming day. Today was Edd's first day at work and he was excited! He was going to be replacing one of the forensic technicians at the Peach Creek police department who was quitting before her baby was to be born. She apparently wanted to stay at home and focus on her family for the time being. He would train with her for the week and then she would leave it to him. It was satisfying to have a great job opportunity so soon after graduating from university, Edd just wished his parents were here to witness it.

After finishing up his orange and banana, he went into the living room and gazed with a sad smile at a picture on the wall. About two months before graduation, Edd's parents had been involved in a terrible accident killing them both instantly. Despite not spending as much time with them as Edd would have liked, he had still been devastated at the news. He'd thrown himself more so into his studies until graduation and a few weeks later made the decision to move back to Peach Creek and live in his childhood home instead of selling it. He held fond memories of this house and felt he'd made the right decision.

Things had been less than okay right before moving back and Edd found he couldn't be happier, even if he was alone. He hadn't told anyone he moved back. Eddy and Ed would be the only ones he thought might care but they were no longer in Peach Creek. The intelligent Edd didn't even have a way of contacting either of them after they all stopped talking. It was a gradual thing, each of them busy with their lives and not being able to find the time to just chat with one another. There wasn't any animosity between them though. Any time they were able to meet up or talk, it was as if they'd never lost touch in the first place. No, Ed and Eddy would always be Edd's best friends and brothers, but he understood they had their own lives now.

A soft alarm sounded in the kitchen and the skittish man jump slightly at the sudden noise. "Oh, it's time to go mother, father, I start my new job today! Well, I'm off." he whispered to the picture of the smiling faces before leaving the room and grabbing his keys. He put his phone and wallet in his pockets and made his way through the door in the kitchen to the garage. Not long after he was on his way to the Peach Creek Police Station, a giddy smile on his face.

"Son of a bitch! Get back here!"

Breaking out into a run, Detective Kevin Barr raced after a big burly man as he took off down a side street on the north side of Peach Creek. The man, Jordon MacConnell, was wanted for questioning on a recent homicide and Kevin now knew he knew something, maybe not about the homicide but he had information, and Kevin wanted it. The redhead sprinted quickly, jumping over a trash can the man threw in his path and continued on as if nothing happened. He rounded a corner to see a large fist aimed for his head and immediately ducked, falling back on his butt as he lost his balance.

He rolled to the side to avoid the foot trying to stomp on him then swung a leg out in a sweep, kicking out the guy's other leg and making him fall on his face. Quickly jumping up and onto the man's back he hastily grabbed a muscled arm and pulled it back painfully as he grabbed his hand cuffs off his belt. He managed to get one silver bracelet around a beefy wrist but the guy lifted them up off the ground with his other hand and Kevin had to cling to his disgusting sweaty back so he wouldn't fall on his ass again.

"Damn it! Stay down!" he yelled through clenched teeth, kneeing the brute in the small of his back, sending him back to the dirt. Another few minutes of scuffling, Kevin was able to cuff the other arm and he sat down on the man's back to catch his breath and wait for his dumbass partner to catch up. Rolling his eyes as the sound of whining coming closer reached his ears, he lifted his black baseball cap off his head and ran a hand through shaggy red hair before placing it back on backwards. Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, Kevin turned his head to glare at the teal-haired man that appeared around the corner huffing and sweating.

"Fuck, Kevin, the hell! Why'd you make him run?" whined Nathan Goldberg, Kevin's partner. The two met their first day at the Police Academy when Nat unabashedly hit on Kevin and grabbed his ass, earning him a punch to the face. They became fast friends after that and eventually partners once they graduated. They worked extremely well together, often knowing what the other needed without even speaking to one another. Kevin smirked at the man as he leaned against the brick wall trying to catch his breath.

"You needed the exercise dude, come on, let's get him to the station and question his stupid ass." Nat rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his partner before bending over to help him lift the big brute off the ground. Kevin brushed the dirt that he could from his black jeans before straightening his black leather jacket over a dark green T-shirt.

One of the Kevin's favorite things about being a Detective, was that he could wear plain clothes, not that he didn't like the blue uniform but he really loved his leather jacket and his hat being backwards. It seemed a bit childish to continue to wear it like that but it was a habit for him, made him feel better, was comforting. In a job that was stressful and tough, Kevin believed it was okay to have this slightly juvenile obsession.

Walking a few blocks, they came to a black unmarked Dodge Charger and Nat shoved the big guy into the backseat before taking his place in the front while Kevin went to the other side and got in. The engine roared to life with a low growl before Kevin put it into drive and they made their way to the Peach Creek Police Station. It didn't take long to make it back to the station where they handed MacConnell off to a rookie to get him processed before questioning him. The two detectives headed to the break room to grab a coffee before the department briefing from the chief. They were getting a new Forensics guy to replace Martha and Kevin was a bit annoyed. Martha was a beast at processing evidence, there was no way some newbie was going to be as good as her and that irritated the hell out of him. As they walked out of the break room and across the crowded lobby filled with desks and people a loud shout sounded and the two looked up to see MacConnell rushing through the throng of people.

"Shit! Nat!" Kevin yelled not even bothering to look at the man before taking off after their suspect, pushing people out of his way. Nat signaled for several officers to follow him and made his way around the back to the front of the station to head him off. Nearing the suspect, Kevin drew his gun and trained it on MacConnell.

"Freeze!" he yelled loudly as a few people scurried out of his way. MacConnell did freeze but so did Kevin. Emerald eyes widened in shock at the sight that met his gaze. His suspect had a hostage.

Staring in awe at the lobby of the Peach Creek Police Department, Edd walked slowly toward the front desk where a young woman sat, a phone pressed to her ear as she nodded and wrote. Edd waited patiently for her to give him her attention and took his time taking in his surroundings. There were a few steps that stretched the length of the lobby leading up to a landing where the rest of the department was just pass several metal detectors and armed officers.

The station was exactly that - an old train station converted into a police department many decades ago and renovated within the last decade. The right front corner of the station housed several desks stacked with papers and other things that Edd wished to organize. Behind them were a couple small standalone cells that held people waiting to be processed by the many officers nearby.

Across the room there were more sections of desks and Edd wondered if maybe they were split up based on units, Homicide, Vice, etc. Standing on his toes slightly to look over the head of the nice woman who'd smiled politely at him, Edd saw toward the back a room lined with windows covered by blinds on one side of the open space and on the other side more windows stitched across the wall, but without the blinds Edd could see it was filled with different kinds of equipment if his eyesight was to be trusted.

"How may I help you?" The brunette at the desk said turning her attention to him with a smile as her short hair seated slight with her titled head. Smiling nervously at the woman as Edd turned his attention back to her and informed her that he was here to see the Police Chief Donald Pierce and Forensic Scientist Martha Wilkins.

"Oh! You must be Eddward Vincent, right?" she gasped smiling sweetly. Edd blushed lightly and nodded. "Well, aren't you adorable!" She squealed this, garnering the attention of some people passing by and a few of the officers watching the scanners chuckled, making Edd blush even more. He handed over his ID when she requested it before she gave it back and handed him a temporary ID badge which he clipped to the collar of his white button-up shirt.

"Mrs. Martha! This is Eddward come have a look at him!" Face still as red as a cherry the nervous man turned to see a short, plump woman with bright purple hair walk slowly toward him with the biggest grin on her face. Her brown eyes shined happily as she stopped in front of him and grabbed his cheeks lightly and squished them.

"Aw! So cute! Bridget he is positively adorable! Did you warn him to stay away from Nat yet?" The two women laughed and Edd was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. The short woman turned back to him and stuck her hand out for him to shake.

"Hello, Eddward, I'm Martha, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." Edd smiled slightly at her and nodded. She seemed to be a very nice woman, strong and firm, like her hand shake, but Edd had only ever spoken with her over the phone. He had been unable to make it to the precinct for a face-to-face interview and they had to do it over the phone but she apparently liked him enough to give him a chance.

"Salutations, Mrs. Wilkins," he said softly before the woman laughed once more at him.

"Please, just call me Martha, I'm not that old yet!" Edd flushed and stuttered, trying to assure her that it was not his intention to imply that she was of old age but she merely laughed at him and pulled him along with her.

"Oh Eddward, you're too cute." They went through the security with ease and a bit of embarrassment on Edd's part as the officers teased him before they were slowly making their way through the main hall and all of the desks toward the Police Chief's office. Martha entered without knocking and introduced Edd to his new boss.

"Chief, this is Eddward, the replacement I chose." The Police Chief looked to be a stern man. Clean shaven, white hair cut short, nicely pressed uniform and a stern gaze that made Edd sweat a little.

"A pleasure to meet you Sir, you may call me Edd, i-if you wish," Edd mumbled as he clumsily shook the intimidating man's hand. Dark brown eyes narrowed at Edd before they crinkled in amusement.

"No need to look so scared there Edd, it's nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy working with us here. Martha, why don't you give him a tour of the labs and once you're done come get me and I'll continue with the rest of the tour before sending him back to you, how's that sound?" he looked at Edd with questioning eyes and the nervous man nodded hastily. The two chuckled at him causing him to turn red once more before he followed Martha out of the room and across the hall to the glass wall. Now he could see that there were several different rooms that stretched down the hall, each with different equipment.

"Alright darling, this is the DNA and Toxicology Lab, this is where you'll be spending your time." Edd nodded slowly looking around the room, taking everything in. The glass door he walked through faced the Chief's office but the left-hand wall of half windows looked out into the main lobby where a section of the desks were, but no detectives could be found. "Homicide is the closest to you, if you're wondering," Martha said motioning for Edd to walk around, "It would be good to get a better idea of your surroundings. Go on! Don't be shy! I'm sure you've used these machines before yes?"

Edd looked around the room after taking a few more steps inside. In the center of the room stood two empty tables about four feet apart and directly in front of him on the far wall was a desktop computer. The right wall was lined with cabinets, counters, a sink and towel dispenser and several machines that Edd couldn't wait to get his hands on. The left wall was lined with a workspace that lined the wall and a few more machines resided there as well. He noticed the lack of labels and made a mental note to ask Martha if he could add them later.

They left the room and headed into the next set of doors down the hall, on the right next to the Chief's office the door said CSI Unit Offices. They didn't go into through that door, Martha explained that they belonged to the Crime Scene Investigators that went out with the detectives to gather the evidence for their cases. They did however go through the left glass doors, into the Trace Lab where a tall woman with shoulder length blonde hair was standing in the middle of the room just staring into space.

"Hey Lil," Martha spoke getting the attention of the thin woman and grey eyes glared at Edd upon seeing him, making him feel like running from the room, "This is Edd, he'll be taking over for me so play nice." she admonished before turning back to Edd and introducing him to her.

"Edd, this is Lilian the Trace tech. She isn't a big fan of change or most men so just try and stay on her good side." The short woman smiled up at Edd and he nodded before extending his hand to shake hers, which she reluctantly took while rolling her eyes.

"It's a pleasure to me you, Lilian, I look forward to working with you," Edd smiled nervously at her, not even a bit bothered by her being at his eye level. The woman quirked an eyebrow at him but refused to let go of his hand.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked rudely, eyeing him like he was some weird specimen. Blue eyes blinked confused before Martha interrupted them.

"There's nothing wrong with him Lil! He was just raised with manners and respect! Trust me you'll love the kid, he's the best out of the bunch." The blonde woman just nodded curtly, dropping Edd's hand before turning around and ignoring them before a machine beeped and she moved gracefully across the room. Martha lead him from the room and back out into the hall.

"Lil is a bit quirky but once she gets to know you, trust me, she the most loyal person you'll ever meet." The two walked to the next room and a loud pop had Edd nearly jumping out of his skin. A squeak escaped his lips and his hand flew to his heart as Martha burst out laughing at his reaction. The terrified man looked at the door to see that it read Ballistics Lab and tried to calm himself down. He would never get used to this noise, especially it being so close to his lab. His internship location had the Ballistics Lab on the other side of the building and it was soundproofed, but this didn't appear to be the same.

Martha looked through the door after her laughter subsided to make sure it was safe before going through the door and motioning for Edd to do the same. Walking in he saw a woman a bit shorter than himself looking over a rather large gun in her hands muttering to herself. After setting the weapon on the table next to her she turned and saw the two by the door and a large smile spread across her face as she bounded over to them.

"Why Martha, it's good to see ya, what brings you down to my neck o' the woods here?" she said in a mild southern accent stopping in front of them and looking Martha over and then Edd before beaming up at him. Her long brown braid fell from her shoulder to swing behind her as her blue-green eyes filled with excitement.

"Hey Presley, just introducing the new guy to everyone. This is Edd, he'll be taking over for next week after I leave." A small frown fell upon her face and Edd was starting to feel like no one would like him here.

"I hate that yer leavin' Martha but I'm sure you picked the best person for the job." Presley said as she thrust her hand out at Edd with a smile on her face once more.

"The name is Presley, like Elvis, my mama was a bit obsessed with the man, but it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Edd. I look forward to workin' with ya." Edd returned the smile, grateful to have possibly made a friend.

"Greetings, I, too, look forward to work with you. If I may ask, where are you from?" He was intrigued by the way she spoke; it wasn't often you heard a dialect like this in Peach Creek.

"Me? I'm from good ol' Texas, lived on a farm and everythin'." She gave him a toothy smile and Edd nodded in thanks. "If ya ever need anything Edd don't hesitate to come an' ask. I'm betting Lil didn't leave much of an impression so it's probably best no to bother her with the small stuff ya know." Before Edd could reply they were interrupted by an officer coming through a set of double doors on the right-hand side of the lab with another large rifle.

"Ah, yes! That's the one I need! Thanks Joe. Well, Edd, the guns are callin' and I gotta case to help solve, I'll talk to ya later yeah?" she spoke quickly then bounced over to the slightly annoyed officer not really wanting to give the hyper woman the powerful gun he carried. Edd chuckled softly and allowed himself to be lead out of the room and across the hall. They stopped in front of the door and Martha looked at him a bit nervously. The door said Morgue and Edd didn't really want to go in there.

"We don't need to go in, I'm sure you'll meet the M.E. at some point. Honestly, it's probably best to not ever meet this one. She can be…odd is putting it nicely let's just say that. There's no point in scaring you off on your first day now is there?" she ended with a laugh but Edd felt his stomach twist. How weird was the Medical Examiner for her to say that? They went back down the hall and took a left once they were back in the loud main lobby toward the room with the blinds.

"This is the break room, there's coffee, tea, you name it, it might be there somewhere." They passed the room and continued on to the next room with a glass door reading Layout Room that merely housed a long table. Across the room was a set of double doors labeled Evidence Garage and Martha briefly explained what they were. The Layout room was mostly used by CSI's and the Detectives and the Evidence Garage was run by a friendly guy named Axel who looked over vehicles for cases. Moving on to the next glass door on the right side of the hall Edd saw TV's and computer monitors and several computers before he even saw anyone in there. They entered the room and Martha introduced the two.

"Sheridan, this is Edd, my replacement, you better take good care of this boy," she said laughing good-naturedly at the short man perched on a stool. The man had tanned skin and short black hair and black eyes but Edd thought he might be a very nice man, he had a friendly look in his eyes that calmed Edd's nerves a bit. The two shook hands and despite Sheridan not actually saying anything to Edd before turning back to whatever he was doing, Edd left the room a bit happier. Martha lead Edd back toward the main lobby pausing for only a few seconds to point out the Deputy Chief's office across from the break room before entering the high-ceilinged lobby.

The building was rather beautiful and Edd thought he would enjoy seeing it every day. The Chief was standing in front of his office waiting for them with a smile. Martha excused herself to go get some work done while Edd was lead around by the Chief who first started by telling him where the different units' sections were in the room. Next to what would be Edd's lab was the Homicide Unit and in front of that closer to the front of the building was the Special Victims Unit and behind Homicide was just meeting rooms for briefings. In the middle section of the room were Internal Affairs and Missing Persons. Next to the break room was Processing for people brought in and VICE/Narcotics was situated closer to the front of the building.

"Through the break room is the officers' locker room which has a door leading to the gym. You're welcome to use it if you wish. Honestly, we highly encourage all our civilian employees to take the defense classes offered but it isn't required." Edd nodded taking in all of the information that he could and sorting it mentally. He was never good at anything that required physical activity but maybe that was something he should invest his time in? He'd have to think about it.

"Do you have any questions for me before we head to the meeting room so I can introduce you to some of my detectives?" Thinking for a moment and not really coming up with anything else but one, he blushed lightly.

"Um, yes, where would the restrooms be?" The older man laughed then pointed toward the Processing area.

"Restrooms are right through that door or next to the Morgue, you can probably guess which ones get used most often," the man laughed and Edd smiled in return, "You go on then and meet me in Meeting Room A when you're finished alright?" With an answering nodded, Edd turned in the direction of the restrooms, weaved between people and went in. After relieving himself and finding the restrooms surprisingly clean - not as clean as Edd would have his own but he only spent about five minutes cleaning the toilet before using it - he washed his hands and walked out heading toward the meeting rooms next to the Homicide Unit.

He hadn't made it very far, only to the middle of the building, before shouts erupted behind him. Curious as to what the commotion could be he turned and paled as he saw a large bald man charging straight for him. Gasping in fright he turned to run but wasn't fast enough. He felt a sharp pain around his neck as he was jerk back into the gigantic man's sweaty chest, and cold metal wrapped around his throat. Bringing his hands up to try and dislodge the chain blocking his airway he froze as he smelled terrible BO and felt the sweat and his brain was yelling at him about germs and diseases. Blue eyes squinted in pain before the room spun and he found himself face to gun to face with Kevin?