I do not own SOSF or anything to do with it. No profits, no how.

Thanks to my dear ladies in the group for your kindness and support. A very special thanks to Mchicken for her inspiration. This story was something I wrote for another reason, but hadn't published it on this site. I decided to approach a different angle and have tweaked it some. ...And I can say, it's completely written, proofed and saved on the site, so it should be published with decent frequency.

Finally, thanks to the readers who support all of the writers at the site.

THE NEW NORM

Chapter 1

Steve grinned devilishly at his partner as he barreled down the quiet side street one early December morning.

"You're driving too fast!" Mike barked.

The younger partner let out a chuckle and then feigned innocence. "My driving is not the problem. You're upset about Brenda."

"Brenda!? Brenda, Connie, Carolyn, Mo! And that's been in the last month! In my day, a couple would not do what you two did..." Mike snapped as he could not conceal his outrage.

"I know, I know, not until they were married..." Steve agreed.

"Not even then. Most married couples wouldn't..." Mike couldn't find the words.

"What?! Hey, how would you know what we did?" Steve was still grinning in amusement.

"When I came by this morning, you answered the door completely out of breath and standing there soaking wet in your robe - and that was after I knocked ten times! And then not two seconds later, I see a young woman - equally soaked - with her arm wrapped around her front and then in her other hand she was holding a lame little wash cloth to cover her back side as she bolted from your bathroom to go back to your bedroom!" Mike said with more disgust than usual. "I know what you did!"

"We were just conserving water," Steve responded cheekily.

"You barely know the girl..." Mike scolded.

"'Barely' being the operative word," Steve cracked. "Besides, I know her from Berkeley."

"Oh you do, do you? What's her last name?" Mike quickly asked.

Steve hesitated. "Off the top of my head, I don't remember exactly. But I met her at a party at one of my old professor's. She's a research assistant and she's related to one of the school's benefactors. She gave me her name and number and we went out."

"And I take it she only gave you her first name?" Mike grilled.

"And her phone number. And she's a classy lady. We saw the SFSO last night after a nice dinner. It was fine."

Mike responded with a glare and Steve felt uncomfortable. "Don't worry, she's not some kook."

"How do you know? You don't even know her full name!"

Mike was fit to be tied. He knew his young partner was a ladies man but there were times when he was convinced that Steve was either a full fledged card carrying hedonist or was simply carrying out a self destructive pattern with women. He wasn't sure which was worse! Perhaps each girl was fun for awhile but just as Mike got used to hearing one girl's name, Steve would come along with another. He didn't even recognize the girl from that morning.

Under his breath and quite seriously, Mike said, "One of these days I hope you'll meet someone who will reel you in..."

It was only then that Steve's smile diminished ever so slightly. Suddenly the radio blared, "All units, we have a 211 in progress at Gregoria's Deli at 1900 Union. See the man. Suspect may be armed and dangerous".

"Hey, that's only two blocks away from that last intersection!" Steve calculated.

"Make a right up here and double back. I'll call it in," Mike added, but could not resist one last sideways glance to his malcontent partner.

Saved by a call, Steve thought to himself.

Minutes later, the pair pulled up to a deli. Alfred Gregoria was in front to greet them.

"This punk kid came in and held me up! Can you imagine holding up a deli?" Gregoria barked as he saw the pair approach.

"Was he armed?" Mike asked.

"He said he was - he had something in the pocket of his jacket," Gregoria added.

"What'd he get away with?" Mike asked.

"About $75 in cash and a handful of homemade beef jerky I had on display," Gregoria explained.

"Which way did he go and was he armed?" Steve asked.

The detectives shifted their focus as Gregoria pointed west. "He took off on foot up the street."

Pulling out his notebook, Steve asked, "Can you describe him?"

"Yeah, tall muscular guy with black stringy hair with dark eyes. He had a grey jacket with blue jeans," the shopkeeper responded.

Steve nodded as he took notes. "What else?" Mike probed.

"Well, nothing else except he was carrying a handful of jerky," Gregoria said with a shrug.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Jerky? Well, that should be easy to spot. Perhaps he'll have a trail of strays following him..."

Suddenly the pair heard a scream from across the street and several storefronts away. "What the..." Mike said as he squinted to see a woman standing over something.

"POLICE! Someone help!" she cried again.

"Go up and check that out while I finish here," Mike ordered.

Steve ran up the block until the situation came into full view. A woman who had apparently been walking her dog stood over a body lying sprawled across the sidewalk. He continued reached the victim, then kneeling beside an older woman who was out cold.

"What happened?" he asked the dog walker as he tried to find a pulse.

"It happened so quickly! This man ran up and pulled at her purse. She lost her balance and when she fell, she must have hit her head on the curb."

Steve found a faint pulse as they talked, but was uncertain of what other first aid he could provide. Looking at the closest storefront, he calmly requested, "Miss, can you go into the donut shop and call for an ambulance?"

The woman did as she was told, leaving her golden lab sitting dutifully by the storefront. Steve glanced over to the dog and then back to the victim when he noticed a floral suitcase. He got up and took a look at the tag that had the victim's name an address on it. Mrs. Bernice Wilson, 2254 Oak Lane, Springfield Ohio, he noted. Realizing there was a phone number as well, he grabbed his notebook and quickly jotted the information down before returning to his place beside the victim.

"Welcome to the city, Mrs. Wilson," Steve whispered softly as he began to feel the woman for other injuries. He noticed how oddly placed her head was against over the side of the curb and wondered if she had a neck injury. With her arms spread wide, the detective surmised that she had fallen straight back.

A small crowd gathered at the window inside the shop while others kept a safe distance from the detective and the victim on the sidewalk. Steve noticed Mrs. Wilson's eyes flutter. He bent over to where his face was only inches from hers. "Ma'am? Mrs. Wilson?" he inquired as he saw her lips quiver. She groaned lightly.

"Ma'am? I'm a police officer and we've called for an ambulance. It's going to be all right," he said to reassure the woman. He was rewarded with eye contact and a faint smile, then a pained look took over her face. She struggled to take in a couple of gasps before she closed her eyes. Seconds later, she became limp.

"Ma'am?" he inquired a final time, reaching to her neck where he had found a pulse before. It was still. Not willing to give up, he grabbed her wrist, but had no more success. As he laid her arm down, he sensed a presence and looked over his shoulder to find his partner.

Mike didn't need to ask any questions. He knew the woman had died at the scene. Steve looked back at Mrs. Wilson and shook his head. "I have to try."

He reached behind her neck and pulled her gently over to allow her to head, neck and back to rest evenly on the sidewalk. Recalling his recent CPR training, Steve propped her head back, pinched her nose and proceeded to inflate her lungs by exhaling into her mouth. Then he tentatively searched for the place he would strike for cardiac compression and as he clasped one hand over the other made the first pump.