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One Week Later…

"This asshole is relentless," muttered Lauren as she read a report on her laptop, frowning, "How much longer is he going to press this issue?"

Annette sneered, "Till something turns up. Whether it's something the Capitals actually did or not he's gonna press this until he uncovers something dirty."

"Well interrogating him got us nowhere," muttered Lauren as she pounded out a few keys on her laptop and slammed the screen down in frustration, "He's dead-set on screwing this team over…but what for?"

"Well he got caught selling steroids to major league baseball teams so he knows that he's screwed," said Annette as she mulled over the facts of the case, "So his best bet is to try and garner as much attention as possible…distract the court by bringing to light the fact that several professional athletes use steroids. That would give more shock value to the case and turn the public attention toward the teams and players using the drugs rather than the fact that he actually sold them to begin with."

"Not to mention the media attention and money he'll end up receiving for this," muttered Lauren, "Perps like him always want attention…the more the better. And the more attention he gets, the more support he'll get, which eventually leads to cash later down the road."

"So either way he wins? Even if he's found guilty?" said Annette, looking very distraught.

Lauren's eyes narrowed as she contemplated the possible results, "Well…maybe…unless we can prove the Capitals' innocence."

"How do we do that? It's their word against his."

"Not unless we make them all take drug tests and strap them to lie detectors," muttered Lauren, grimacing at the very thought of all the paperwork and sleepless nights that would mean for her and Annette.

Annette's face was a mirror image of Lauren's. She detested paperwork almost as much as Lauren did. That was definitely not a part of the job she had signed up for when she joined the FBI two years ago.

Annette sighed as she relented, "Fine…if we don't have any other choice then I guess that's what we have to do."

Lauren glanced up at her partner with an amused smirk on her face, "Hey, it means we get to see our men some more."

Annette rolled her eyes, "You mean you get to see your man. Brooks Laich always looks at me like he's in pain or something. I seriously doubt that's a good sign."

Lauren laughed, "Do you know how many times I've caught him staring at you? He wouldn't look at you all the time if he wasn't attracted to you. Maybe he just broke up with his girlfriend or something?"

Annette raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, "Hmm, yeah maybe."

"I could always ask Mikey," suggested Lauren with a smile playing across her face. Both she and Mike Green had been texting and flirting excessively lately and seemed to slowly be growing closer together as time went on.

Annette rolled her eyes, "Mikey? Really Lauren?"

Lauren just shrugged, "What? I could ask him you know…just see what's going on with Brooks Laich."

Annette sighed as she contemplated the idea, "Okay…just please don't make it obvious, okay?"

Lauren rolled her eyes, "Oh please, I'm a trained government agent…I got this."

…

Brooks Laich put in his ear-buds and laced up his red Nike running shoes. He had been laying around the apartment for the past couple of days, trying to fully wrap his mind around the fact that Tracy was gone. In other words, it had been two days of hell. The days prior to that he had kept himself busy by running, working out and running back and forth to the Kettler Iceplex to answer questions by the two female federal agents.

Brooks closed his eyes and tried to block out the mental image of the blonde agent's beautiful blue eyes. His unexplainable crush on the young FBI agent had slowly been turning into almost an obsession. He couldn't get her out of his mind, hard as he tried. No matter what he did or where he went, the image of her kept appearing in his mind. It scared him as much as it thrilled him. In a sense it felt good to find a woman attractive and to develop a new crush, but the fact that this was so soon after his Tracy had died was gnawing at him. He felt insanely guilty for having feelings for another woman. It almost felt like he was cheating…even though Tracy was dead.

Brooks shook his head irritably, trying to shake the thoughts from his mind. He stood up and finished a few stretches before he cranked up the music on his iPod and took off on his first lap around the apartment complex…

…

Mike Green frowned as he glanced out the window and saw his best friend head out for another jog. Aside from the past couple of days, it seemed like all Brooks did was work out and run. Mike knew him well enough to know that this was a sort of coping mechanism for Brooks. Whenever he got stressed out or upset about anything, he took his frustration and emotional stress out by running.

But what bothered Mike the most was the fact that the only times he saw his best friend was a passing glance out the window as he ran around the complex or when they ran into each other at Kettler for their many interrogations. Besides that, the previously inseparable pair never saw one another. It bothered Mike a lot but he knew better than to pressure Brooks to hang out. He knew his best friend needed space…he needed time to heal on his own and to figure his life out again. Mike was just going to have to be patient until then.

Just then, Mike's phone buzzed. He reached over and picked it up off of his dresser and smiled when he saw the name on the top of the message:

Hey Mikey…can we meet up at Kettler? I wanted to ask you something.

Mike smiled excitedly at that. He and Lauren had a talk regarding their potential future relationship. While the investigation was going on they would be unable to date because it would not look good for Lauren, being a lead investigator on the case, to be dating one of the accused players. However, once the case was over, Mike had promised to ask her out on a formal date. Until then the only time they could really talk was over text messages and when they were at Kettler together.

Mike smiled to himself as he put on his jacket and headed outside. He was going to have to be patient about this situation as well. But at least he could see Lauren and hang out with her a little bit…that was more than what he could say for his best friend…

…

"Hey," said Mike as he sauntered into the third floor 'interrogation room' of the Kettler Iceplex, "You wanted to see me?"

Lauren smiled as Mike gave her a quick hug, "Well I always want to see you…"

Mike chuckled a little at her flirtatious response, "Oh is that so?"

Lauren nodded, "Yes, but I did want to ask you something."

Mike inclined his head a little, "Yeah, what's that?"

"Have a seat," said Lauren as she nodded toward a chair on the other side of the desk.

"Ah, an interrogation question," said Mike as he sighed and took a seat.

Lauren smirked, "Yeah something like that…just a follow up question. And I would like to ask that this question and the answer to the question stay between us if that's okay?"

Mike raised an eyebrow at that, "Uh, yeah sure…what is it?"

"Well, it's about Brooks Laich…"

Mike visibly stiffened at that and took a defensive posture. Lauren noted the instant change in Mike's mood and knew she would have to tread carefully. It was obvious that the two teammates were close.

"What about him?" asked Mike, his voice tense.

"Well…I've just noticed that he seems a little distant," explained Lauren, "More so than what one would expect in a quieter, more serious hockey player. It's as if he's always looking off into the distance or he'll ask me to repeat questions or he'll seem to not even bother to pay attention. I was just wondering, since I know you guys are close, if you knew why he's acting like this? I'm not accusing him of anything…I just have to cover all my bases. Please don't take it as a personal attack against Laich."

Mike forced himself to relax. The woman was just doing her job…he couldn't overeat. He didn't want to screw things up between them this early on anyway. He sighed before he replied.

"Um, yeah Brooks has been to hell and back lately," began Mike as he searched for the right words to say, "His girlfriend, Tracy…was killed by a drunk driver a little over three weeks ago."

Lauren gasped in surprise and covered her mouth in shock, "Oh my gosh…I'm…I'm so sorry I asked."

Mike waved it off, "No, it's not your fault…you didn't know. Yeah he took it pretty hard. He and Tracy were really close. I think he was working up a way to ask her to marry him not too long before the accident. He hasn't been himself since it happened."

Lauren glanced away, feeling a rush of guilt as she contemplated what Mike had told her. That would explain the pained look in Brooks' eyes every time he looked at Annette. He was attracted to her partner, but he must feel horrible for feeling that way about another woman so soon after the accident. Everything made sense now.

"Okay, thank you Mike," said Lauren as she forced herself to gather her thoughts together, "I'm sorry to pry into your business…I know this hasn't been easy for anyone on your team. I'm glad you told me about Laich though. I'll keep that in mind during future interrogations."

"Future interrogations?" questioned Mike, "How many more will there be? Hasn't this guy given up already?"

Lauren sighed, "Sadly he's pretty insistent that he sold your team steroids. I don't think he's going to let up that easily. He'll keep pressing charges until we receive concrete evidence against his claims. In order to get that concrete evidence we're going to have to polygraph you and the rest of the team and get everyone to take some drug tests. We'll probably start that up tomorrow I think."

Mike stifled a groan, "Don't get me wrong, I love having you around here, but I just wish this thing would end already."

"What, you have a hot date or something?" teased Lauren suggestively.

Mike grinned broadly at that, "Why as a matter of fact, I do!"

Lauren laughed as she stood up, "Well thanks for stopping by…I really appreciate it."

"My pleasure," said Mike with a smile as he leaned forward and gave Lauren a light peck on the cheek. He smirked in amusement as he watched Lauren blush. He gave her a quick wink before he turned to leave the room.

Despite all the pain and the frustration the team had been going through lately and the loneliness he had felt since his best friend had suffered a tragic loss, Mike felt a sense of hope…a sense of warmth spread throughout his entire body. At least he had Lauren…at least someone was still there. He silently prayed that this whole investigation crap would end as soon as possible so he could take her out on a proper date…

…

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