AN:inspired by my Law class. I own nothing you recognize. Yes this is an AU and no, i've never been involved with or know any VT state trooper. The state is beautiful and most of the people are very nice.

Lu had started to wonder why he ever left New York. He'd worked up to Sargent of the day shift and had finally achieved a normal, human work schedule. He had a pension, a union, and a partner. Most of his pension had been transferred, about eighty percent, and the other twenty he had been given in cash. It was a highly unusual deal but it got him a job with the state police. Not in New York, but Vermont.

Lucifer Milligan, you see, had a nose for gathering information on drug activity which was one of the most common problems (besides the high rates of B&E and robbery) in the state. After the minor stint at the academy and two years on the force, he finally had his first raid. Prior to that, he dealt mostly with traffic violations and accidents. He could barely list how many calls he'd been on for moose/car and deer/car collisions. Lu had also been called to the scene of a few hunting accidents because there were always a few hunters who still refused to wear their safety vests.

He sighed heavily as he turned off his high beams as he pulled into the muddy driveway. There was no sense in waking Balthazar up and ruining his only real chance at getting some sleep. The garage door refused to close automatically and Lu growled lowly in frustration as he pulled it shut.

His efforts were in vain though. Balthazar sat and the cracked wooden table with yesterday's newspaper folded out in front of him and Lu's home police scanner flicked on. The elder blonde smiled softly and glanced up from the paper. "Good Morning."

Lucifer nodded his head and raided the sparse fridge for an orange. His partner was a dental office record's keeper over the line in Littleton, New Hampshire three days a week and then worked in Walmart Thursday and Friday. It had recently been upgraded to a 24 hour and Balthazar had taken the third shift to be back home to see Lu.

He coughed which drew Lu's attention to him. Balthazar, however, had returned to the paper to avoid the other man's worn eyes. He refused to add another burden to the younger man's already heavily weighed shoulders.

"When did that start?" he could hear the undertone of worry in Lu's voice. Shit. "Balth.."

"This morning." He cleared his throat and folded the paper neatly, "I'm fine."

Lu shook his head and dropped the half peeled orange on the table before he brought one hand to Balthazar's forehead and the other to his stomach. "You're burning up."

"I just took some Advil." He gently grasped Lu's hand he'd placed on his stomach. "I called in sick to both jobs." He frowned, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Lu whispered as he rested his face in Balthazar's hair. "We're all caught up on the bills and I'll do the shopping."

"But-"

"You need to rest." Lu kissed the top of his head before he retreated back and pulled the pot of chicken noodle soup off stove. Balthazar watched Lu's shaky movements as he placed the pot and a large spoon on the table.

He picked the spoon up and dipped it in the soup, "So do you, Love."

Lucifer shook his head and picked up his orange "I'm on call until 4:30."

They ate in silence for a few moments. Balthazar watched as Lu peeled his orange and broke it in half. He frowned as he read deeper into it. "Something happened today."

Lu nodded and picked off the left over skin. "K-9 found the missing teacher. She'd been there for a while."

Balthazar rose and grabbed a face cloth from the drawers next to the sink and soaked it in cold water. He turned and took in the familiar scene of Lu's forehead on the table with his shoulders slumped. He draped it over the portion of exposed skin on Lu's neck and pulled him up to rub his shoulders.

"You can't save everyone, Love."

Lu did something different this time. He started to cry softly and shook his head, "I don't know if I can do this anymore, Balthazar."

Balthazar stopped and tilted Lu's chin back to look at his face. His tears streamed from his eyes and down past his ears. "Lu…"

"I'm so fucking tired." He whispered and rested his hands on Balthazar's, "So damn tired."

Balthazar leaned down and kissed both of his cheeks and then gave him an upside down kiss. When he pulled back, he could see the additional lines that had aged his lover's face into that of an old, cynical cop.