A/N: Yay! H:LOTS fic! LSM, this is for you...and H:LOTS isn't mine...
The church bells were ringing. On an ordinary day, I might've just assumed that it was just the end of another service. But this wasn't an ordinary day. I was a New York cop in a Baltimore dress uniform. It was raining. And I was one of six that bore a casket on our shoulders.
The eyes of the crowd followed us as we walked. I stood in the front, next to Bayliss. Directly behind us were Howard and Pembleton…behind them, Lewis and Bolander. All that remained of the first year's lineup. All that remained of the original first shift. It hurt to think about, so I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head, and concentrated on marching.
None of us dared to say anything. None of us even dared turn to look at each other, for fear of what would happen if we did. So we kept our eyes forward, all of us silently mourning the loss of the man who would always be our lieutenant. We had caught his murderer, yes, but it did little to fill the hole in our hearts.
And as we walked, the church bells continued ringing. The sound grew fainter as we made our way to the cemetery.
But I knew it was a sound that would linger in my mind forever.