Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or ideas from The Killing. It's all just way too much fun.

Spoilers: Season 1, episode 1

DAY 1

At Ft. Washington High School, Linden and Holder have just finished interviewing Bennett Ahmed, one of Rosie's teachers and one of the last people to have seen her alive, for the first time. They've done the good cop/bad cop thing exceptionally well, Holder being extra confrontational and Linden being uncharacteristically warm and friendly. Still, Bennett hadn't admitted to anything.

"Call if you think of anything else," Linden tells him. He doesn't respond, just walks away. Linden's warm demeanor hadn't made up for Holder asking him if he'd "hit that," in reference to Rosie Larsen.

Linden and Holder look at each other after Bennett disappears down the hall, but they don't say a word. The look isn't quite friendly, not quite unfriendly. Maybe equal parts frustrated and skeptical. They seem to have reached some sort of understanding, which counts as progress.

Just then, Linden's phone rings. The call is from Jack's school, but all they say is that they need her to come in. As usual, her face reveals nothing, so Holder is surprised when she starts walking towards the front door, just ahead of them and down a small flight of stairs.

"Put a car on Sterling's house," she tells Holder.

"Where you going?"
"And get a K-9 unit out of the park. I'll meet you there."

"You my ride, Linden."

Linden walks calmly down the stairs and out the door.

Holder

I can't believe this… Seriously, she's doing it again? This time just leaving me behind, here's your assignment, see ya later? Find yourself a car, kid. Damn! What the hell is with her? I can't help but think that Linden doesn't understand what it means to be someone's ride. OK she's lead on this case but… really? I assume there was a reason they told me to ride with her, but it's hard to tell what the reason was… I can't get much out of it if I'm not actually riding with her! Is this how she usually acts, or is this a special "It's my last day so I'll just act however I want to" thing?

Whatever… I can deal with her and her attitude for a few more hours. Six o'clock can't come soon enough though.

Linden

Damn, what has Jack done now? Can't we just get through the last day here and be done with it?

"You my ride, Linden," he keeps saying. I don't have time to babysit him! I mean, I gave him a ride – what does he want from me? He's gonna be lead on this case, unless they pull him and give it to someone else, so he needs to stop thinking and acting like a uni and start thinking and acting like a detective.

OK, maybe I've been a little rough on him today, but it's a tough job. He might as well get used to it. And I have more important things to think about than whether I'm hurting his feelings.

Linden had picked up Jack – his school has called because he'd been caught smoking – and dropped him off at Reggie's, then gotten back to the park. Holder was already there with a variety of other officers, mainly in uniform. He was standing and talking with a few of them by their makeshift command center – a cluster of police cars on the side of the road.

He looked up as she approached. "Anything new?" she asked him, straight to the point.

"Not yet." He replied in the same dry tone. Then he added, "Everything OK?"

"Yeah, fine." Holder held her gaze, looking at her skeptically. She looked away, but still it burned into her. "Jack got caught smoking at school," she finally admitted.

"You want me to have a talk with him about smoking?" he asked, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. It wasn't clear whether he was serious or not.

Linden smirked at him. Was he kidding? Him, of all people? "You can't even say that with a straight face!" She shook her head in disbelief. "I'm not sure that speech would mean much coming from someone who smokes as much as you."

"Maybe, maybe not, but I'm good with kids. Just saying, the offer's there." She watched him for a minute, trying to decide whether he was actually meant it, or if he was telling some sort of deadpan joke. She couldn't decide.

"Come on, we have work to do," she reminded him. When in doubt, change the subject back to work. She picked up a folded map from the hood of one of the patrol cars and walked a little ways from the noise of the crowd to orient herself and try to figure out her next move. Holder was pacing now, impatient as usual.

He was ready for action, drama, something to happen… which was a good thing, because drama always seemed to follow Linden, as he would soon learn firsthand.