"It's ok Katie, everything's going to be ok." Mark said soothingly as he put hand on Katie's shoulder. "You can live with me until this whole thing clears up. My son's out of town right now and you can stay in his apartment until he gets back. That is if you want to." He told her.
Katie's eyes got big, and then she broke out into a big smile. "Really?" she asked. "Thank you Dr. Sloan."
"Or you might want to stay with me..." Barbra joked, "Of course my place is small and it doesn't have the ocean in the backyard, so... "Barbra watched Katie's face gleam with excitement. She then turned as she sensed Mark's mixture of emotions. "Is my favorite Lieutenant at it again?" Mark sighed on his student's comment. "Don't worry Dr. Sloan, we all know Steve. He's a pit bull, he won't let go of a case... He just CAN'T! Not until he finishes it to perfection... That's why he hates me. I'm a quitter, a dropout cop."
"Sure, Katie. I'd be happy to have you stay at my house." Mark told her then turned to Barbra. "No, he's not on a case, but something about the way he left bothers me. I don't know what though. And he doesn't hate you, actually he speaks very highly of you. Some people are cut out to be cops and others aren't. It just depends on the person." He turned back to Katie and held out his hand. "Come with me miss." He said bowing like a prince.
Katie smiled eagerly and followed Mark out to his car. "I really appreciate it Dr. Sloan," she said as they were on their way to the beach house. "I don't know where else I could go." Back at CGH, Barbra headed for the doctor's lounge. "Like father, like son", she told herself and smiled as she walked in on a sulking Jesse. "Hey Doc, what's up? Did we run out of coffee?", she tried with a joke, but Jesse just sat there and mumbled to himself. "Gee, I was just going to ask you a favor. I guess I'd better not." Dr. Travis seemed to be awakening from a trance and looked at her silently as she continued: "That girl, Mark just took home... Katie. She, uh... I feel sorry for her! She refuses to go back to her place. It figures. So I thought, well ... if you let me... I could go pick out some stuff for her. I'm sure my ex- colleagues would let me in and you could bring it to her... you're going over to the beach house tonight, aren't you... Dr. Travis? Are you sure you're alright? You're, uh, so quiet..." "What was that? Oh I'm so sorry me and my girlfriend are in the middle of a argument and i was just thinking. Ok 'nuff about my problems. I think that's real nice of you to go get the girls things. You need some company..." Jesse gave Barbra a quick glance and smiled. He looked at his watch. " My shift ends in 5 minutes if you can wait." "Sure! No problem. But uh... remember, the guys will only let me in because they know I won't disturb any of the evidence. Can I vouch for you too, Dr. Travis?" Barbra smiled as she noticed Jesse's testy look. "I'll be cleaning up in exam room 4. Call me when you are ready... And Doc! Don't worry Susan will come around she loves you too much, not to! "Thanks, see you in 5 minutes." With that Barbra left the Doctors lounge. Jesse watched her leave and finished his coffee. He was walking down the halls of Community General to the locker room to change. After he was done, it was past 5 minutes and he signed out. On his way to Exam room 4 he bumped into a nurse that was carrying a bunch of files. "I'm sorry Miss. he said as he looked up to see Susan's face. They both started to pick up the files. "I'm sorry Susan." She gave him a dirty look and he continued. "We need to talk. Mark is having a dinner planed at his house and he said if you want to go you can. "I guess I can. My shift ends at 6." Susan stood up with the pile of folders in her arms and Jesse stuck the extra on top, there were so many folders they were blocking her view. "Are you sure you can see past those?" Jesse asked. "Of course I can. Oh yeah. What time should I be at Marks?" She asked as she desperately tried to keep the folders in her arms. "Around 7." He replied. "Okay. I'll see you there." She started to walk away and someone who was running down the hall knocked into her and she dropped the folders again. "What am I invisible or something?" She mumbled and started picking up the folders again. Alls Jesse could do was smile at Susan, she looked so funny as she picking up all the folders. He decided to help her pick them up again. "there ya go." Susan smiled and said a quick "thanks" and walked quickly down the hall. Jesse continued to exam room 4 and picked up Barbra. He walked in the room to see Barbra talking with an orderly. When they were done talking she noticed Jesse. "Hi you ready?" Okay, let's go..." Barbra looked at her colleague and wondered: "Is that a happy smile on your face, Doc?" Jesse flashed his teeth at her. "Oo-oh, ran into someone, hm?" She patted him on the back. "I saw you down the hall... Glad to see the two of you have made up! " Barbra ignored Jesse's frown and walked off to the parking lot. Suddenly turning at him: "My car or yours?" "Uh if you don't mind, my car." They both walked to Jesse's car. Being the gentlemen Jesse is, he opened the passenger door and Barbra got in. Jesse went around the car and got in the drivers seat. Put on some shades "Do I look cool?" Barbra giggled. Jesse pulled out of the parking garage. "SO what exactly are we getting for this girl? "I don't know yet, just the regular things a 14-year-old can use. I remember I couldn't do without my diary, or my - Ah forget it!" "No tell me!" Jesse urged her. "This is so silly...", she blushed. Jesse had a hard time keeping his eyes on the road and forcing his new friend to confide in him. "Well?" he tried. "You will never lay off it, hm? My TEDDY BEAR, OK???? Go ahead laugh... Poo was my best and only friend at the time! And don't you even think about telling anybody else, you hear? Or I'll have you arrested and locked up. And I guess it will be a while before Steve comes back to let you out!" Her eyes shoot at him as she bursts into laughter. "HA HAHA... OOH! You know what? You're just as cute as my Poo. Same sad eyes, ha haha." Meanwhile, Steve was in San Francisco. He felt bad about lying to his dad about his business there, but he didn't want him to worry. Mark had seen enough worry through Steve's career... and he wasn't getting any younger. But still, Steve felt terrible for being dishonest with him. Maybe he would call him when he got home. Then Steve's mind popped back to the case he was working on. Turned out that the girl in the hospital (Katie) was the daughter of one of the "former" major drug lords in California.
But before the man had been killed, he had turned himself over to the police for the sake of his family and had begun to work undercover with the LAPD in return for a lighter sentence. Well, the judge had given him a much lighter sentence but working for the LAPD had been the man's death knell. His buyers were tipped off by other drug lords that he was working undercover. They became suspicious and killed him. Now Steve was doing almost the exact same thing Katie's dad had been doing that caused him to get killed. Except this time, Steve was looking for the man's murderers. He had been undercover for several days already and he had only a few leads so far. It was also really hard to pull off being a drug dealer considering that he had never used the things in his whole life. He had just called in to talk to the chief (from a secure cellular phone), and the chief had told him to follow up on his leads immediately. That meant he was going to the danger zone. Maybe he should call his dad, even if it was just to tell him that he loved him. He flipped open his cell phone and dialed the number to his own house. The phone rang at the beach house just as Mark and Katie were walking in the door. "You stay here, I'll be right back." He told Katie as he walked quickly to the phone. "Hello." He said into the phone. "Oh, hi Steve, how was the trip?" Hey, Dad," Steve said in a serious voice, "It's going ok. There is something I want to tell you, though." Looking around and making a split second decision, Steve decided to tell Mark the real reason why he was gone. "I'm not at a friend's funeral, Dad, I'm working undercover in San Francisco. I'm trying to find the people who murdered Katie's father, who was a former drug dealer working undercover with the LAPD. " Just then Steve felt the distinct nudge of a gun against his back. He heard a muffled voice say, "Drop the phone and hit the ground." As he tossed the phone down, he could hear his dad's voice calling his name. Steve slowly started to turn around to see if he could catch a glimpse of his captor, but as he did, he was hit in the head with the gun. Steve fell to the ground, dazed, and still hearing Mark saying his name, more urgently now.
"STEVE, STEVE ANSWER ME! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? STEVE!" He was yelling at the top of his lungs. Suddenly someone hung up the phone with a bang. 'Oh mi god, I hope he's ok.' He thought. He looked over at Katie who was looking scared. "It's ok, I'll just call someone, so they can find out what happened to Steve." He said. 'but who?' he thought to himself and started to worry about Steve. At that time Mark heard laughter coming from the staircase to the back of the house. He went over to the deck and saw Jesse lugging up a suitcase. The young doctor was followed by a woman who was pushing and teasing him up the stairs. "Come on, Jess. It isn't that heavy! Show us some muscle! "Barbra chuckled as Jesse finally reached the deck and threw the case down with an "OUGH". "Hi Katie! Hi Dr. Sloan! I got something for you...", she giggled and gave the girl the plastic bag she was carrying. Katie found her locked diary and its key in it. She smiled and observed Dr. Travis gasping for breath. "Looks like you're not the only one carrying a bag for me, right, Barb?" As the laughing girls set their eyes on Mark, Barbra noticed the absent-minded look on his face....... Katie ran over to Jesse offering him to help him put the suitcase downstairs, in Steve's guest room. "I should have known..." Jesse murmured under his breath, as he saw the med.-student's amused face. He joined Katie and carried the bag downstairs. Mark was gazing over the ocean, when Barbra spotted the brown pelicans and wanted to point them out to him. As she looked at his face she saw a familiar twitch in his jaw. "Doctor. I may be way out of line, but ...are you all right? You just had hat - uhm - ominous Sloan twitch... "Mark gazed at her while she explained: "Your cheek, the muscle contractions... It's just like Steve's, when we were in trouble!" Dr. Sloan's silent frown at her made her almost sound 'psychic': "Is Steve okay?" "I don't know." He said, almost whispering and looking scared. "I was just on the phone with him, when all the sudden it got hung up.......... I was wondering if you knew someone that could go and see what happened to him? Or information on where he was and why?" He asked Barbra. "Uhm, Doc?" she whispered, "Could I have a couple of days off? I know it's irregular for a med -student to ask. But ... I need to see the Golden Gate Bridge! "Her eyes were begging and reassuring Mark of her good intentions. "I guess. If you're back by Monday morning and get someone to take your shift while you're gone." Mark said still thinking about Steve. "By the way, do you want to stay for dinner?" He asked politely. "Or do you have to get back to the hospital?"
" Do you mind if I take a rain check?" Barbra smiled. "I really should be on the next flight to San Francisco... A sudden urge, Doc." She grinned mischievously and headed for the stairs. "Thank you Doctor... I'll say 'hi' to Steve when I run into him... "Barbra left the beach house and headed out to the PCH. She crossed the busy highway and headed for the gas station across Mark's house. A tall man got out of a dark Mercedes.
He gallantly opened the car door for her and she got in." I'm all set. If you could drop me off at my place to get my bags and take me to LAX, on time. I am your woman..." The tall guy got behind the wheel and snorted at her, not answering her. He put the car into gear and hit the road. "You'll have to call the hospital on Monday, though... I only got the weekend off and I guess it will take longer? "The chauffeur's silence was bugging Barbra, she started to interrogate him. "Come on Chief! Will you fill me in?.. Did he finally call you back?... Chief, COME ON! Where IS Steve?"... The car drove off... Leaving the sun to set on Malibu. *meanwhile* Back at the beach house Jesse is watching TV. he was getting hungry and every commercial that came on had to do with food. he clicked off the TV and went and found mark. "mark, when we gonna eat," he said with a boyish smile. "I'm Starving!" Jesse wined Katie walked in behind Jesse, smiling. She liked the young doctor, he was funny, cute and an all around nice guy. She knew that he hung around the Sloan's too, and she really liked Mark. Katie decided then and there that she would do everything in her power to make them like her too. Mark was busy in the kitchen, attempting to make dinner and pour drinks at the same time. "Here, let me help." Katie walked over and started pouring the drinks. "Thanks Katie, that's a big help. Jesse can you grab the garlic bread out of the oven. We'll be ready to eat as soon as Amanda and Susan get here. For now have one of these." He said handing Jesse a cracker. "Gee thanx," Jesse said sarcastically while looking at the cracker. He flicked the cracker at Katie. "SO.... is Steve dead?" Jesse joked Mark looked up surprised at what Jesse said. "No. He's not dead." He said sternly. "Let's get onto more happy topics." He checked on the spaghetti. Just then the doorbell rang. "Jess, can you go see if that's the pizza I ordered. You can go with him if you want Katie." "I was kidding Mark." Jesse thought, "Why would you order pizza when your making .... Nevermind" Jesse walked over to the door and answered it to see Susan and Amanda. "Hello Susan and Manda. Marks in the kitchen." Jesse said with a smile then turned toward Katie. "Lets go out on the beach and play Volleyball, Kay?" "Kay!" Katie replied, smiling. She could really learn to like Dr. Travis. She eagerly followed him out the back door. Amanda made her way towards the kitchen leaving Susan behind. "Mark?" she called out. Amanda found Mark sitting at the kitchen table with his head slumped over held up by his hands. Amanda began to panic, "Mark, are you alright?" Mark looked up suddenly. "Oh, Manda, I'm fine. Just a little worried about Steve............ But I won't let that ruin our dinner." He said getting up from the chair. "Is everybody ready to eat?" He yelled out into the living room. "Sure Mark, I'll get Jesse and Katie!" Susan yelled back. She went out to the beach where Jesse and Katie were playing. "Hey guys, dinner's ready." She called out as the volley ball headed her way and hit her on the head. "Hey, watch it!" "Yes! FOOD! Jesse ran up the back steps on to the deck. Katie I think you should apologize for hitting Susan with the ball." Jesse said laughing a little. He knew he hit her but he tried to put the blame innocent Katie. "You rat!" Katie joked. "I think you know who hit Susan with the ball! "Katie was so happy. It didn't take her very long to open up to some one and let her true energetic, friendly self come out. This was an answer to her prayers. She was rid of all the problems of her former life that her parents had selfishly woven for her-At least for that moment. "You know Katie, Its not very nice to lie. Have you no manners?" Jesse lied. Jesse really enjoyed having Katie around. He liked to blame her for things that he did, even tho they usually figured out he was the one that really did it. He knew when the time was right, Katie would go behind Steve's back and investigate with him and Amanda. "Lets eat! I'm SOOO hungry. I'll race ya Katie." and with that he sprinted through the house to the kitchen. From the Kitchen Mark saw Jesse and Katie sprinting toward him and Amanda. "Manda, watch out." He said fastly and pushed him and Amanda out of the way. "Jesse, could you please not run through the house like a runaway train." He asked Jesse when he (Jesse) stopped short of running into the wall. Out of breath Jesse made up something quick, "Oh sorry, it's just that Katie wanted to race." he smiled as Katie looked at him. He whispered in Katie's ear, "I won." Then looked at Mark and smiled, "need help with anything?" Katie looked at Jesse with that hurt look in her eyes, but this time she wasn't joking. She didn't know why, but she wanted to cry. Mark was gonna think she was totally out of hand and he wouldn't want her to stay with him. "Excuse me," she muttered and went off to find a bathroom. "No thanks Jess, I'm just waiting for the pizza guy to get here. Then we can eat." Mark said looking out the window anxiously. "Actually you can all do something for me." He said almost whispering. "You can make Katie feel at home here. I don't know what all happened to her, but I want her to feel like family. Ok?" "Sure Mark. Hey Susan said dinner was already ready! "Just then the doorbell rang" Jesse rushed to the door and it was the pizza, he paid the guy and came back into the kitchen. He opened the box to the pizza, "You didn't order anchovies?" "No, I'm allergic to anchovies, remember? And also I didn't think anyone would want them. If you want them so bad, you can order your own pizza." Mark said getting edgy because he kept thinking about Steve and wondering what happened. *** San Francisco PD - Main Precinct *** Barbra was rubbing her eyes as she went through the files Steve Sloan had checked on his arrival. Chief Masters had told her to go for it and 'think Sloan', but how could she... Steve was her mentor, her partner for a while, but she always found it hard to stay focused the way he did. He could be so stubborn sometimes, while she wanted to move on and come back to the suspects later. 'The female approach', he used to kid her... The door swung open and the SFPD captain entered handing her a cup of coffee. "We thought you might need this..." "Captain Jamieson, you shouldn't pamper me like this!" she protested, eagerly taking the cup from his hands. The man smiled and looked over her shoulder. "I think Lt. Sloan was on to this." She offered the captain a copy of an old DEA file holding pictures of Anderson in his good old days. "See that guy to his right, sir? That's Ferris. He's an old friend of mine... from my old, soon to be forgotten, past!" "Harlan, you... and this drug runner?" Jamieson's voice was sharp. "You do not NEED to know SIR!" Barbra meaningfully stressed her words and continued. "Apparently he never married, no girlfriend, so... I might give him a date tonight." She took out her cell phone and dialed the number, leaving Jamie son to shake his head. "Charlie! Hi hon, how are things... This is Barbra... Yeah!!!.... Just for a couple of days, unless you marry me, that is...... HAHAHAHA....... Say, hon? I need a huge favor. Could you take me on as your new 'floozie'? Yeah I know... not my style but I need to talk to some of your people, find a friend... NOOOO! Not that kind of friend! I swear! He never took me out for anything but coffee and donuts.... Cut it out! ...Will you? ....Help me? Okay - Meet me at Pier 39 in half an hour... Thanks, Charlie! I still love you ...to death... haha." **** The night was dark and foggy. Mist had been rolling in all evening and Barbra felt like a shiver running down her spine. She knew she could trust Charlie Ferris, but some eerie feeling gave her the creeps as they walked into the warehouse. "Hey, boss! You sure took your time! Finally inspecting the leverage?" Barbra's stomach turned as she saw the familiar figure tied up to a rack. Steve was unconscious, dangling from it. "Pretty useless merchandise, it seems to me!" She gave aggressively. "Boss, who's the big mouth redhead?" "My woman!" Ferris explained. "She will nurse him to top quality exchange rate. Do it woman!" Barbra tried hard not to rush out to Steve. "Do I really have to?", she moaned, till she got a foul look from her so-called boyfriend. Ferris cut the ropes and she caught Steve in her arms, while the men stood there, laughing at her, ridiculing the view of her female figure handling his limp body. Her lips brushed Steve's ear and she whispered to his half-conscious state. "Hang in there, partner. I'm your medical backup. You'll be fine..." *******
Jesse swallowed hard. Mark seemed really mad at him for some reason. "Ok." With that Jesse put down the pizza and left to find Katie. He knocked on the bathroom door, "Katie... you in there?" Katie turned around inside the bathroom when she heard Jesse's voice. She took a deep breath. "What do you want?" she asked. "Dinners ready." Katie seemed upset. "What's wrong?" "Nothing," Katie replied, trying to sound happy. She opened the door, smiled, and walked back with Jesse to the kitchen. A warehouse in the San Francisco Bay Area. * Barbra was finally alone with Ferris and Steve. She turned at Ferris and bit at him: "What gave you the right to do this to him? No cover is worth a fellow officer's life..."
She gave her friend a foul look, checking Steve's vital signs. "What did they give him... Oh no - Sodium Pentothal, truth serum? Geez, Charlie! They might have killed him. What was their next step? Potassium? The combination is lethal!"
Ferris looked at her with goofy eyes. Steve was still out. His breathing was shallow, but there, which reassured Barbra. "I will need oxygen." She barked. "We can't risk him to go into respiratory arrest or hypoxia. Barbiturates do that to you, especially combined with sodium - Fools!"
"Lieutenant, can you hear me? Steve! Squeeze my hand, I need to check your muscle control... I know you can hear me! Squeeze..."
Barbra felt his gentle grip... "Okay, that's good. Relax, sir. You'll be fine! Don't fight the drugs, just breathe..." She coaxed Lt. Sloan into good breathing and watched his response, smiling at his effort to keep up with her... squeezing his hand. Barbra opened her purse and took out her cell phone, she addressed Ferris: "Well, how about the oxygen? Will you get it?"
Charlie Ferris muttered under his breath: "Alright, alright... take it easy ...SIR! -- Who are you calling?" Barbra shot back at him: "Nobody, as long as you're around. Check on the others!"
Ferris shook his head and left the room. Barbra dialed a number: "Please be there!" She prayed.
The man on the other end answered with a friendly voice... "Uhm, Doc, do not answer..." She started. "I got some good and some bad news: I will need some extra days off, cause I got to take care of Steve... Don't worry. He's fine. He's under... with me!"
The door opened and Barbra quickly pushed the red button on the phone. Hiding it from her new 'friends', she composed herself.
"Oh there you are. Nice job. Did you use all your goodies on him, or did you save some Thiopental for the market?"
The man glared at her and bit her head off: "Just do your job and shut up, Ginger!"
Steve's fingers squeezed her hand again. She smiled. ********
At the kitchen Jesse was getting restless. "Can we Please EAT!?" "Yeah Jess, we can eat." Mark said as everyone sat down. "Ok everyone dig in." Mark said putting some spaghetti on a plate. "Mmm that looks so good. I'm starved." Susan said taking a plate and serving herself. She put some sauce on her noodles and put her plate down in front of her and picked up her fork, but it slipped from her fingers and fell on the floor. "Whoops I'll get that." She bent over to get her fork and accidentally kicked Jesse who was sitting across from her. "Sorry." She apologized and wiped her fork off with her napkin. "Just clumsy I guess." "Hey" Jesse said rubbing his shin. he plopped food onto his plate and started to eat. "When we are done eating lets go do something." "Anything but Volleyball." Susan laughed. "I might end up with a concussion." Jesse looked at Katie and smiled. "What do YOU want to do?" Katie smiled. "Oh, I don't really care," she replied. Mark didn't seem to be mad at her, so she was slightly relieved, and at least Jesse was acting normal again, well, at least as normal as he could. Then she had an idea. "Hey, Jesse, Susan have you ever been surfing?" "Susan... Surf?" Jesse started laughing. Susan gave Jesse a mean look. "Look who's talking Mr. Wipe out. I could learn to surf if I wanted to. I just don't have that kind of time." She explained. "Oh ya sure." Jesse said sarcastically. "and for your information Susie, I am not Mr. Wipe out, Steve is. Speaking of Steve, Mark does Steve still have those 5 extra boards in his room?" Jesse thought of something else. and started another argument with Susan. "What do you mean you don't have that kind of time. I work more than you do and you don't do anything else constructive in your life." ******* ******* Steve groaned as he felt a small, cold hand in his own, then touching his forehead. He opened his eyes as far as he dared against the glare of the real world. Through the tiny slits, he could make out a woman's figure. "Laura, is that you?" Steve groaned again. Man, what had happened to give him SUCH a headache? ******* ******* Susan dropped her fork on her plate and looked up at Jesse. "Excuse me? I do plenty of constructive things but you're too busy 'Working' to notice. I bet you didn't know I help out at the clinic down the road. Or that I'm an escaped convict." Susan mumbled the last part. "A what? What was that, I couldn't hear you Susan. Speak up. The clinic is work, I said besides work." Jesse liked annoying Susan. "I'll help you clean up Mark. Then we can go surf, Katie." Jesse smiled at Susan. "Okay, I'll help too," Katie replied, helping Jesse take the dishes to the sink. "So Jesse, are you really Mr. Wipeout?" "No, I'll clean up, you guys can go get ready to surf. Steve's surfboards are in his apartment, in the closet." Mark said picking up his and Katie's plate and walking into the kitchen. "No I insist Mark." Jesse continued to clean up. "NO Katie, I'm not. I am a very good surfer. Don't listen to Susan." Then he whispered in Katie's ear. "She's not right in the head."
* San Francisco - The warehouse * Barbra watched Steve's attempt to fight the effect of the drug. She sensed his disorientation, and held his hand checking his temperature and pulse. He called her Laura... Unable to give away her cover, Barbra didn't correct him, but just looked him in the eye. "You will be alright, sir! As long as you do, as you're told." Inadvertently her lips pursed and she saw his reaction, that familiar twitch in his cheek... Barbra wondered "Did he realize his error? Or was it the drugs?"
Steve opened his eyes a little farther against the light. The woman kneeling beside him wasn't Laura, his partner who had gone undercover with him. He was extremely worried about her. She had gone to the coffee shop to pick up some food when he had been in the alleyway. Now he had no idea where she was and apparently she didn't know where he was either or she would have come to his rescue. Or had she been made to? She could be in a worse situation than he was, or even dead. He struggled into a sitting position and said hoarsely, not recognizing the woman beside him, "Who are you? Where is Laura?" Some thing was bothering Laura she had not seen where Steve went. She knew he was worried about his dad and that he might try to call him, but why was he not back at the coffee shop? " I guess I better call Dr. Sloan and see if Steve called" she thought to herself. Laura gets up from the table and walks outside to their car. She looks around then gets in and locks the doors. As she started down the street she reaches for the phone and dial the beach house. As it rings she gets very nervous. " Hello Dr. Sloan. My name is Laura Smith" Barbra turned away from Steve's scrutiny and ordered Ferris' flunky out: "Go get the boss! Tell him he's awake! He wanted to talk to him!" The man reluctantly left the room and Barbra turned to Steve, still wondering if he was playing games with her. Mulling over the name he gave her, <'Laura'> she faced him. "Look Lieutenant, I know you never forgave me for leaving the force after that kid died... But you do remember me... This is Barbra Harlan. The Barbra Harlan you molded into a police woman. And sir! Like it or not I ... - Well, I am your backup! ... Do you hear me?" She took Steve by the shoulders and made him face her, her eyes staring him down. She saw he was about to faint. "Relax, Steve, relax... I'm sorry..." As she kneaded his forearm, she saw the worry in his eyes. "Who is Laura?", she probed.
Now that Barbra had identified herself (besides nearly knocking the sense out of Steve while shaking him by the shoulders), Steve realized exactly who she was. He looked at her warily, trying to decide whether he could actually trust her or not. Then he sighed, knowing that he didn't really have a choice. Steve sat still for a few moments, trying to clear his head. Then he spoke: "Laura's my partner. She was undercover with me, but it was top secret. She wasn't with me when these guys brought me in. She had gone up to the coffee shop and was to meet me later. Now I don't have any clue where she is or if she's even alive." Steve paused, then asked suspiciously, "What are you doing here? And where are we?" Some thing was bothering Laura she had not seen where Steve went. She knew he was worried about his dad and that he might try to call him, but why was he not back at the coffee shop? " I guess I better call Dr. Sloan and see if Steve called" she thought to herself. Laura gets up from the table and walks outside to their car. She looks around then gets in and locks the doors. As she started down the street she reaches for the phone and dial the beach house. As it rings she gets very nervous. " Hello Dr. Sloan. My name is Laura Smith" "You guys go get changed now, I'll do the dishes." Mark told the rest of the gang. Just then the phone rang. "Hello........ Laura Smith? Do I know you?" "Well no sir not really, I am a really good friend of Steve." Laura pauses not sure what she should say, not sure if this was the right thing to do. * San Francisco - The warehouse * "Steve, you have a lot of good reasons to be suspicious of me. I know I let you down before, but not this time!" The door opened and Ferris walked in. "Lt. Sloan, may I introduce... Charles Ferris. Charlie to his friends. To the others... Agent Ferris... DEA!" "BARBRA!!!!" Ferris was to late to stop her, she shrugged her shoulders and explained: "We're a couple of blocks off Potrero - near the docks, an old warehouse as you can see... Good thing Charlie got in touch and asked about you. So, I called good old Masters and here I am... looking after you - AND YET - dodging my responsibilities with yet another Sloan, YOUR DAD!" Barbra giggled. "I'm playing hooky again... At my age!" Steve had a very confused look on his face. He had a massive headache as the effects of the drugs were wearing off. "Okay, so we're in a warehouse off Petrero" Steve started, trying to make sense of what she was saying. "And this is a DEA agent. So how did I get here and who whacked me upside the head and drugged me? And where on earth is my partner?" "Take it easy, sir! Charlie is under... DEEP. His accomplices got overzealous it seems. But you know, we have to be careful, we are supposed to be on opposite sides..." Barbra turned to Ferris and told him: "Charlie, Lt. Sloan has to escape... He could take me hostage and make a run for it, slowing you and your confederates down! After all you don't want to get me killed do you?" Barbra grinned and pursed her lips at both men They were scrutinizing each other's, weighing capacities. She decided to cut them short. "Lt., I don't know where Laura is. As a matter of fact nobody told me you had her as your backup. " "...Steve? ...Who is she? And, where did you see her last?" Steve's eyes widened as he began to understand how much was at stake. He began to think of the many things that could happen to Barbra, Charlie and himself if the thugs found out that Barbra and Charlie were also undercover. Barbra's question about Laura brought him back to the present. "The last place I saw Laura was a tour hotel. She was heading to the coffee shop, and I was going to find somewhere to call my dad over my secure cellular phone. She's a rookie, and there is no telling what happened after I... well, got um... captured." Steve knew there was no sense in worrying about what might have been, so he turned to Barbra instead. "And what of you? Did you just decide that you would come play cop again for old times sake?" "A rookie... hmm?" Barbra's deep sigh disclosed more to Steve than an honest answer ever could. She tried to divert his attention and told him: "Don't worry about your dad. He knows you're safe! I warned him like, half an hour ago. But uhm, maybe you should call him yourself." Barbra handed him her cell phone and took Charlie by the arm. "Can I talk to you for a minute? He needs some privacy!"