It was a warm, quiet day. A lazy afternoon sun let its rays playfully trickle in through the half-closed blinds, coming to a gentle rest on the beautiful, sleeping face below. The dust, twinkling like stars in the daylight, flittered excitedly with each measured and peaceful breath she took.

"Yo, Mykes, wake up!"

Myka jumped up and out of her chair, shocked awake by her partner and best friend, Pete. His face was smug as he watched her try to compose herself.

"I wasn't sleeping," she protested, quickly sitting back down, a frown settling itself firmly on her brow.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," he responded, the smug look turning into a full smirk.

"Really, Pete! I was just..."

"Resting?"

She sighed. There was no way she could talk her way out of this one.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Artie."

She sighed again.

"Thanks. What did you need?"

"Right..."

Pete had already forgotten what he had come into her office for.

"Um...oh yeah! Leena made cookies."

"You came in here to tell me about cookies?"

Pete beamed excitedly.

"They're triple chocolate chip!"

Myka couldn't help smiling at his childish fascination with baked goods.

"You know I don't eat sugar."

"Yeah, but you gotta at least try one. You know, for Leena. She worked really hard on them."

Myka looked down at her remarkably empty desk. She couldn't lie to herself any longer...She was bored. There hadn't been a case in over a week, and her brilliant mind couldn't deal with the lack of activity. A little slower this time, she got up.

"I guess...since she took the time to make them..."

Pete jumped in excitement, then dashed out of the door way. Myka followed him at a slower pace, shaking her head at the overgrown child she had come to love like the brother her father always wanted.

Myka Bering was organized. She was meticulous. She was sharp. She had the most acute eye for detail the police force had ever seen, which was precisely why they gave her the job. And Myka Bering had been a great cop, always a step ahead of everyone else. She was fiercely competitive. She was objective. She had an amazing talent for keeping her true feelings hidden. So when Chief Frederic had announced that she was assembling a special unit, Myka Bering was immediately promoted.

Officer Bering became Detective Bering.

With her came her partner, Pete Lattimer. The two of them had been friends since their college days, where Myka had been the quiet, bookish type, and Pete had been the party-crazy jock. If it hadn't been for her, he never would have graduated.

Their special detective unit, known simply as Unit 13, was comprised of the Detectives Bering and Lattimer, Captain Nielsen (whom everyone referred to as Artie), Officer Jinks, and their resident tech Claudia Donovan. Though not officially a part of the unit, Leena the secretary was very much a part of their team as well. Together, they worked on solving what could best be described as "unusual" crimes. Crimes that didn't make sense. Crimes that were not...natural. And they were pretty damn good at it too.

Myka Bering loved her job. Which was why she couldn't stand the peaceful lull that had settled over their station. She wanted nothing more than to work.

Myka Bering needed a case.

"So? What do you think?" Leena asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Myka swallowed, then smiled sweetly.

"They're amazing."

It wasn't a lie. The cookies really were fantastic. But the sugar made her jittery, especially now, with nothing to occupy her mind. Even so, she couldn't help herself as she reached for a second one.

"Guys guys guys!"

Pete, Myka and Leena turned around as Claudia burst into the kitchen.

"Wuth uph Crohd?" asked Pete, his mouth overflowing with cookies.

"Huh?"

"He said 'What's up Claud'," Myka piped in helpfully. After knowing him for eight years, she had become fluent in Pete's full-mouth language. It had come in handy quite a few times.

"Oh. Right. We got a ping!"

Ping was Claudia-speak for a case. Myka's face lit up.

"Some kid in Kansas," Claudia continued. "Started burning down all the crop fields and then went into a coma."

Myka rushed out of the kitchen and down the hall to Artie's office. Her half-eaten cookie lay abandoned on the kitchen counter, but soon found a suitable home in Pete's mouth. Leena rolled her eyes at him while Claudia grabbed a handful of cookies for herself.

The procedure was simple. Fly out to the crime scene, question all the witnesses, find out what the hell was happening, then arrest the perp. To Myka and Pete, it had become a routine. Pete liked to call it "Lag, Nag, and Gag".

"Lag because of the jet-lag, Nag 'cause we have to ask everyone questions, and Gag 'cause that's what we do when we catch the bastard," Pete had explained to Myka two months ago, when the phrase had caused much confusion.

It had since become their mantra.

This case, according to Artie, was going to be no different.

"Nothing too exciting," he told them from behind his cluttered desk (it made Myka cringe just looking at it). "Standard Lag, Nag, and Gag."

Myka flipped through her case file.

"It says here that the kid, Kenneth Drake, is from Kentucky?"

"Yes. No one's really sure what he was doing in Kansas. He has no relatives there, no friends, no connections at all."

"Maybe there was a girl," Pete chimed in, throwing out a very obvious wink. Artie and Myka stared at him, in awe that he had even made it through the police academy.

"Right. Well, off you go. The plane tickets are in the files."

The two detectives started towards the door.

"And Myka," Artie continued. She turned around to face him. "Good luck."

She chuckled at that, glancing back at Pete, who had already left the office and was trying to steal one of Claudia's cookies.

"Thanks," she replied, and left his office.