Chapter Two:

Angie glanced up just as Vega was entering the precinct, carrying three cups of coffee. Her eyes lingered there, relieved that her partner knew just want she needed. She watched as he handed one to Lucas and then walked over to her. "Partner," he said, offering her cup to her.

"Did you…" She couldn't even finish the question.

"Yes," he interrupted her. "Cream and two sugars. And…" he paused, reaching into his coat pocket. "A few more packets of sugar. I know how you like it sweet." He dropped the packets onto her desk, smiling at her smugly.

She snatched the cup from his hand and narrowed her blue eyes at him, irritated. "You can wipe that smug grin off your face, Vega," she said, leaning back in her chair and propping her legs onto her desk.

"Don't worry," he replied, heading over to his own desk and taking a seat. He turned his chair so it faced her and smiled in her direction. "One day, you will be able to remember how I take my coffee, but for now I win. Told you I remembered."

She was slightly annoyed that she even agreed to the bet to begin with. Vega had a memory like an elephant, rarely forgot a thing, so of course he remembered how she took her coffee. They had gotten coffee for one another enough times that they should know by now; except that she could never remember how he took his and always messed up his order. So when he suggested the bet, she was quick to agree to it, because if she couldn't remember then how could he. She should have known better.

"It's not normal how you remember things," she snapped, her voice only slightly whiney. She took a sip of her coffee and scrunched her face at him. That only caused his smile to grow wider.

"I get to drive next time," he said, folding his arms behind his head, looking at her amused. "I won fair and square. Besides," he added, "your car's a piece of crap."

She hissed, truly insulted by his comment and reached across her desk, picking up a sheet of paper and crumbled it into a ball. He watched her in questioning, his eyes narrowing slightly, almost daring her. Challenge accepted, she thought; throwing it at him and hitting him squarely in the head. She lifted her fists triumphantly over her head. "I win."

He blinked at her, bewilderment written all over his face, not believing that she had actually just hit him with a ball of paper. She waited for his counter, but his phone went off before he could respond. She watched as he read the text message. After a long moment, he glanced up. "Saved by the bell; Betty wants to see us."

She stood from her chair and followed him down the hallway, in the direction of where Betty waited. He bickered the entire time about how she could have seriously injured him. She rolled her eyes as they entered the examination room, Vega on her heels and whispering into her hair, "You don't play fair, Angie."

"She never does," Betty piped in, stepping out from the corner, cutting them off at the door. The doctor swept a strand of red hair behind her ear, throwing them an amused expression.

Angie frowned. "Hey whose side are you on?"

"The strapping gentleman's side of course," Betty acknowledged, giving Angie a broad smile and batting her eyes.

Angie snorted, used to the banter of her colleague and friend. "So much for girl power," she said, watching Belly as she pulled off a pair of latex gloves and discarded them into the trashcan next to her desk. "Traitor," she teased. She narrowed her eyes as she finally noticed the pair of reindeer antlers on top of Betty's head. "Oh, that's real cute," she said, pointing to them.

The redhead smiled. "You like," she asked, running her hands over the antlers and wiggling her body in a little dance. When Angie gave no reaction, she frowned. "Where's your Christmas Spirit?"

"I must have left it in my other coat pocket," Angie mocked lightly, folding her arms across her chest and leaned against the table, turning her attention to her partner, who stood silently smiling at them, clearly amused at their interaction.

"Hmm," Betty made a sound in the back of her throat and turned to stare at Vega. "You'll have to do something about Scrooge there." Her eyes landed on Angie as she pronounced the word Scrooge, spearing her with a death glare. "No sour-pusses allowed."

Her partner grunted as he stepped up behind her, placing his hands supportively on her shoulders. "Angie's just upset that Manny is a grown-up now, with his own life," he said, caressing his fingers along the skin of her neck. "He won't be home for Christmas," he softly added.

Betty's lips turned downward, realizing her friend's dilemma. "I'm sorry to hear that, Ang. But look at the bright side; at least you can attend the Annual Office Christmas Party." She smiled broadly at the detectives, knowing the annual party wasn't their scene.

"Yay," Angie mocked, waving her hands in the air. "I can hardly wait." She glanced at her watch, noting the time, and in a desperate attempt to avert the conversation before Betty had them committed to attending, she quickly changed the subject back to the reason why they were all there to begin with. "As much as I'm enjoying our time together, I'm afraid we have a murderer to catch. Did you find anything during the autopsy?"

Betty looked at her pointedly, seeing right through her attempt to change the topic. She picked up a file from her desk and handed it to Angie, who gratefully took it, relieved that the doctor wasn't pushing the issue any further. The Annual Christmas Party was the last place she wanted to be at. She had already come to terms with the idea of spending the holiday alone and the last thing she needed was everyone watching as she licked her wounds. She glanced through the file, seeing if anything caught her eye.

"The conclusive findings," Betty announced, staring between the detectives. "Appears to be death caused by blunt force trauma to the head."

"That's not surprising considering how we found her," Vega said, glancing in Angie's direction, waiting to see if there was anything she wanted to add regarding the findings.

Angie read over the report, narrowing her eyes in confusion. She rubbed a hand to her temple, squinting up at Betty. "The toxicology report came back clean," she mused aloud, handing the file over to Vega.

Betty nodded her head. "Clean as a whistle. No drugs in the system. Not even Tylenol. And judging from the lack of defensive wounds, I would say the first blow knocked her out. The strikes after that were to serve a point."

"Overkill," Vega interjected, crossing his arms over his chest. "Usually means it was personal."

Angie thought for a moment, considering the state of the body. "Could a Wiseman do that, Betty?" She asked, trying to gain some clarity on how the woman died.

The doctor looked up at her friend, lifting a brow. "Or a really stupid one."

Angie snorted and shook her head. "Not exactly what I meant," she laughed. "There was a nativity scene at the crime scene with a missing Wiseman that we suspect might be the murder weapon," she attempted to explain.

Betty narrowed her eyes in contemplation. "If it were heavy enough and used with enough force, I would say it's possible." She paused, taking a breath. "So you're both coming to the Christmas Party, right? I hear they're spiking the eggnog."

Angie groaned inwardly. "I…" She began, seeking a good excuse on why she couldn't make it.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Vega said, cutting her off.

Before she could stop herself, her arm swatted back hitting him squarely against his chest. If looks could kill, she was sure he would be dead by now. She opened her mouth to protest, but a soft knock on the door cut her off. They all turned in union as Lucas peeked his head in. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have some news." She glanced once more at her partner, indicating to him that this was far from being over.

"Detective Lucas, come on in," Betty said, waving her hand forward. "The more handsome men the better." She walked around her desk and took a seat, shooting the younger man a flirtatious grin.

Lucas's cheeks turned bright red from the doctor's attentions, but he stepped into the room regardless, shutting the door quietly behind him. He nervously shifted from foot to foot, not saying a word. Betty always had a knack for making the younger detective uncomfortable. Angie wondered if he even remembered why he came in there in the first place.

The three of them glanced around, waiting for Lucas to continue, but were only greeted with silence. Finally, Angie couldn't take it any longer. "Spill it," she said.

Excitement practically oozed from Lucas as his words fell out all jumbled together. "Sarah Walker has a son," he revealed quickly, as though he had been waiting all day to tell them.

The build-up, of course, wasn't nearly worth the revelation or the hype. "Is there more to this," Vega asked after a long pause when Lucas failed to elaborate.

Lucas nodded his head, smiling. "There is. Up until a week ago, his residence was that of a rehab facility."

An exasperated sound escaped from the back of Vega's throat. "Why didn't you just say that," Vega asked, shaking his head at the young detective.

"Where would the fun be in that," Lucas asked, grinning at them.

Angie couldn't help but to roll her eyes. "Not much fun in playing 50 questions either," she deadpanned, throwing a look in Vega's direction. "I don't know about you, but I think we need to pay this son a visit."