Hey guys, sorry I posted the chapter and then realized I had a huge mistake left in it. I had to fix it and re-upload. Please forgive me! And please read and review. I though it was done last night but nay... I am miffed right now. Anyway, I have repaired the damage.

The clock ticked away, diligently, on the wall; it seemed to echo around the room making the idea of time passing more pressing. The two figures inside seemed aloof and awkward; one shifted his weight back and forth, the other hunched over the desk writing. His blonde hair fell in his eyes but he made no move to stroke it away. He only penned faster, appearing as though he wanted the other away quickly. When he was done he whipped out the paper from under his hands and held it out to the other.

"Well I think that about covers it…Mr. Landry?"

"Yes, Andrew Landry." The pasty blonde reached to take the form and shake Berkeley's hand again. "When can we begin?" Berkeley took the presented hand loosely and gave him a look. "I just… the sooner I am done, the sooner I can return to my own office is all…"

The blonde sighed "You can get started at your discretion…you will probably see either one of them wandering around here." He waved his hand in annoyance and found business with some files on his desk.

Drake backed away from the commissioner's door quickly and quietly, safely making it to his office before Landry emerged. He heard the squeak of the door hinge just as he tucked himself through his own office door. Footsteps sounded in the hallway, rhythmically marking a path away from the CI unit. Drake sighed softly in relief as he sat down at his desk.

'Thank god he didn't want to talk to me first thing.' Drake then started to think of what exactly he'd say to the man when he did decide to show up. What about JJ? What would he say? He didn't even know this guy was here yet. He decided to call JJ on his next cigarette break. But he had caught a glimpse of him and started madly writing things down on a note, which he posted on JJ's desk. The second he was done he stacked up his files and headed to Dee and Ryo's office. The two of them had allowed JJ and Drake to set up camp there, especially now that the news was out among the team; that Drake and JJ were to be separated.

"Hey guys." Drake muttered as he opened the door

"Hello, Drake." Ryo smiled warmly, Dee raised his hand to wave, his eyes never leaving the page he was reading. Drake sat down quietly eyeing him with a bit of humor.

"Better not stop him once he's started, eh?" he turned to Ryo "You won't get him working again for the rest of the day." Ryo smiled knowingly and rolled his eyes.

"Very funny" Dee still didn't look up. His voice had that serious tone that meant he was in no joking mood.

"What's wrong? You find something?"

Dee sighed "Six fuckin' homicides… and not a single stray hair … no forgotten evidence. Nothing. What's the catch?"

"You're looking over that again?"

"I just feel like we missed something… it's gotta be here somewhere." Dee flipped through the binder of photographs from the crime scenes again. "Nobody is that good."

"I agree with you there," Ryo flipped through his papers as well "But this bastard seems pretty well practiced." He grimaced at his own words. Drake flipped through his as well, all the crimes had one or two victims each and all of them junior high aged girls with the exception of two boys. The manner of their deaths would have ruled out serial 

murder but all these kids were found within a small radius of each other. They had tracked schools and church groups but none had come up similar.

"Maybe… he's just looking in the right places…" Drake said. His 'partners' looked up. "I looked up some things this morning…half these kids were never even listed as missing… you think he just grabbed some drop-outs or latch-keys?"

"That's a good point…" Ryo said after a moment. "But, why?"

"Targeting clients?" Dee added "One's who didn't pay or maybe he got a blabber mouth kid?"

"Clients of what? There was no trace of drugs in these kids' systems…"

"Maybe they tried to break away and were clean when he came for them?" Drake answered

"Well a hair follicle test will clear that up"

"Like we can get one of those in a timely manner." Drake ran his hands back through his bangs, mussing them up again.

"We'll see about that" Ryo had a sharp tone in his voice as he shifted his papers again, filing a note; probably for Jim down in Forensics. "Dee would you hand me the phone?"

As Dee passed it to him he shot Drake a proud grin and whispered "Gets things done doesn't he?"

Ryo finished up and held his note out to Dee.

"Umm… what, do you want me to do something with that?"

"Yes, if you would please take that down to Jim."

"What? You just called him."

"Well prove to me I'm not the only one who can 'get things done'" Ryo jerked his hand up and shot Dee a look that clearly said 'Do it or you're not getting any tonight' Dee grimaced but took the note and disappeared anyway.

Drake couldn't stifle his laughter.

JJ had arrived, clocked in, and was in his office; coffee in hand. He didn't exactly feel a rush to start his work; he had noticed the immediate plunge in his enjoyment of his work after he and Drake were separated. It wasn't just those rustic eyes and sleepy smile, it was working with someone. Being solo was so… lonely. Sure, he had Dee and Ryo, but just watching their teamwork made his 'solitary confinement' just that much worse. To top it off he wouldn't even have their presence today, the three of them all got off an hour before he arrived, just enough time for he and Drake to miss each other on the way to and from.

He finished his coffee while he stared out the window, it never held much of a view, but it beat papers and Drake's notes. The new big-wigs would say that being separated was not a big deal; they could still see each other at home. But truth be told, JJ got maybe 4 hours with Drake at the house. And those were spent in bed, and not even the good kind, no; sleeping. He groaned and looked to the clock, he better start working. They'd look in on him sooner or later, he hated being under such scrutiny.



When he sat down, he saw it. A yellow post-it stuck on the edge of his desk. He recognized Drake's tiny chicken scratches.

I saw him. Name's Andrew Landry.

Really pasty and blonde.

He's like Berkeley but worse.

But he seems like he doesn't know what he's doing

I think he's manageable

Love you

Drake

JJ smiled and ran his fingers over the letters. Drake had phoned him yesterday to tell him the 'glorious news'. He had audibly groaned then too, and about his lover's also glorious feat with the Commissioner. He had given Drake a hell of a dressing down, but ultimately it didn't count since the officer wasn't here yet. Drake had agreed he'd be on his best behavior now and JJ had let it go.

He tucked the post-it in his desk drawer and began to gather his things; he skimmed his notes and compared them with Drake's, left on his desk for JJ to find.

'Drugs?' he read through Drake's summary 'I suppose it's possible…follicle test…' He rose out of his chair, still reading as he headed to the basement to talk to Jim.

"There are trace elements of cocaine in most of them, eight to be exact, six of those eight 'failed' the follicle test" Jim announced, rather proudly. He was at least happy they were getting somewhere. "Various other narcotics; I can give you a more exact list in a day or so."

"Dee was right." JJ muttered, looking off into space… or rather, he looked as though he was lost, in fact many details and facts were re-arranging in his mind. He looked up, placidly. "Thank you Jim."

"No problem, if you need me, well you know where I am…here in the catacombs." He held his hand up in a frozen 'wave' and turned to attend to his lab techs. JJ smirked but rolled his eyes as he turned and left.

As he approached the Chief's office he had things all planned out; he was 'alone' today so he was going to go out in the field. There were some family members of the victims he wanted to re-address.

"Chief?" He hadn't knocked before entering; there was someone in there with the chief, standing in front of his desk. JJ whispered, a little embarrassed "I have some new reports from Forensics; I am going to go out to interview a few of the witnesses again."

"That's fine Adams." Chief didn't look at him.

"Oh, Mr. Adams." The blonde man in front of the desk said in a silky voice. He turned on his heal to see him; he had a leer in his eyes that set JJ off right away.



'You've got to be kidding me, now?' he thought, irritated. He knew who he was instantly; Drake's description had been adequate.

"It's a good thing you're here. We can all talk together." His voice held a false sense of hope and kindness, JJ made a hard expression.

"Sorry, I was just going to go out, we need some more testimonies."

"Ah." The man turned away quickly. "Aren't there other officers here with you?"

"Sorry but I am alone today. If I had my partner here it would be easier, yes. But he's not." Chief shot him warning looks while he said this.

"I meant the other officers, Detective Adams… this is a large case is it not? Aren't there any others in this office who know anything about it? There should have been more assigned to this case…" he sighed "The FBI should have picked it up by now actually, I'm not sure why it hasn't been transferred yet."

"Because Drake and I get things done." JJ muttered under his breath, "He and I do well, together we succeed. We're good together… and you're going to ruin it." He turned to leave.

"It's a partnership, not a marriage." His voice was irritated

"It's the principle of the whole thing!" JJ snapped, spinning around "Why am I being separated from a partner I work more than well with!? Why should we be made to adjust to other people's working habits simply because we don't have 'the look'? There is a serious case Drake and I are working on and we had some terrific leads but then all this came up." JJ held his hands in the air to emphasize his appall.

"That's a valid point," Smith added before the official could speak, not unfolding his arms or looking up. "Getting to know another partner takes time and it is a while before the new team is acclimated enough to approach a case with the same skill as the more acquainted pairs. Frankly officer that is time I don't have to give to any of my men."

JJ didn't give the thought that Smith was supporting him the surprise it probably deserved. He opted to give a more snub expression to the man in the room.

"I understand, Sir," he turned to JJ, his eyes gleaming "but it still bears repeating that the Police Department objects to the…living arrangements of you and your part—you and Mr. Parker." JJ watched predatorily as the man fumbled over his choice of words. It was obvious even speaking in regards homosexuality wounded him. JJ felt his face flush with both anger and pity.

"It isn't about my living arrangements!" Officer Landry didn't seem to falter as he started to speak again.

"In addition, there are other detectives on this case; fortunate for us. We can devote our time to finishing this quickly. If I do remember, Chief Smith, that is exactly why my department sent those requests to you a few weeks ago." The man looked rather smugly to Chief Smith, who straightened in his chair, resentment on his face.

"Wait. Requests?" JJ looked to the chief "They asked you to put Ryo and Dee on the case with us?" The Chief grumbled under his breath, frustrated, he quickly covered it up as he looked to the blonde officer. His eyes didn't betray his feelings.

"Demanded is more like it."



"You also have yet to follow through with the rest of them; I believe that was the reason for my coming this morning?" Officer Andrews started to sound a little condescending. "I believe the deadline listed is the end of this week?"

Chief sighed, crossing his arms "It is. You would know, wouldn't you?"

"Yes."

"You wrote this up?" JJ asked, sounding critical

"Of course." Landry smiled and saluted casually. He turned on his heal and left the room. There was a long silence in the office, for a few minutes the only thing heard was the whirring of Chief Smith's overhead fan.

"I suppose I ought to tell you. I didn't want to enforce it but as long as that punk is here he'll have my ass until I do it." The chief wound his arms up again, across his chest. Looking like he was about to yell, however his voice was uncharacteristically calm. "They want me to stick Spencer and Cain on the case too."

"Ted and Marty?"

"Yes."

"…They're not going to stop with us, are they? Dee and Ryo… they're next." he sounded horrified, then livid as anger sparked through him. "They've been planning this from the start! They're going to milk our efforts and leave the finished case to the straight officers, when they finalize they'll get all the credit!" he threw his hands up in the air "Of course! It'll be everything they need! Proof that us gays can't possibly do this kind of work!"

"Adams! I'm not going to go through with it! I won't let him run this case!"

"And how can you stop him? You said yourself he'd have your ass for not doing as he says."

Chief Smith was silent

"What's that kid got over you, anyway?" Smith was silent

"…Chief?"

"I think you better go do your rounds, Adams." Chief said grimly and turned around. JJ was hesitant but left and did not turn back.