NYPD Major Case Squad Room
August 30, 2006
1:45 pm
"Come on, Captain," Bobby Goren said, looking through the glass into the interrogation room. "Just let me talk to him for another few minutes."
"You need to wait for the DA's office," Captain Danny Ross returned.
"But…"
"No buts, Goren," Ross insisted.
"The DA's office is here," Kate Logan began, walking up to the window.
"Wow, how'd we rank the big guns?" Alex Eames said with a wry smile.
"Simple, this guy's killed four people in the past week, we want him," Kate returned. "Have you talked to him?"
"I'm going in now," Goren returned, walking into the interrogation room.
They watched at the window, while Goren verbally sparred with the suspect, finally drawing him into a corner and a full confession.
"Book him," Kate smiled, "We'll go for murder 2."
"You got it," Eames returned, opening the door and walking into the interrogation room.
A couple of moments later, Goren walked out of the room.
"Nice technique," Kate said.
"It works," he returned, looking her over. He hadn't seen her in a while and was surprised to see that she'd started showing. "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good," she said, "Of course, I've had to buy all new clothes."
"And you're complaining?" Eames teasingly laughed.
"Yeah, but I had to buy maternity clothes. Come on, Alex, I'm sure you haven't forgotten what it was like."
"True, there is an over abundance of shirts with ducks or storks out there."
"Or my favorite, the ones with the big arrow pointing down that say "baby"," Kate laughed.
"How far along are you now?" Goren began. "Four or five months?"
"Twenty weeks."
"Halfway there," he nodded.
"Have you guys signed up for childbirth classes?" Eames asked.
"We start on Saturday," Kate shook her head; "This should be interesting."
"Just pay attention to the breathing part, the rest falls into place," Eames winked, then, "Come on, let's go book this guy. See you later, Kate."
"Yeah, take care, Kate," Goren said, walking off after Eames.
Logan walked back to his desk and sat down. As he picked up his coffee cup, he looked around the office, spotting Kate standing near the interrogation room talking to Captain Ross.
He watched as they talked, guessing by their serious expressions that they were discussing the suspect Goren and Eames had brought in that afternoon. She was wearing one of the few suits that still fit her and he could see the soft rounding of her stomach. She'd gained a little more than 10 pounds and he swore all of it was in her stomach.
Over the course of the past 3 months, Mr. Peanut had actually started to resemble a human child on the ultrasound pictures. They'd heard the heart beat somewhere around 12 weeks and although she'd been feeling movement for a couple of weeks, he only felt it for the first time last night.
At Dr. Orbach's recommendation, they'd signed up for child birth classes. Having seen them portrayed on television numerous times, they'd both been a bit hesitant, but the doctor said it would help a lot during delivery, so they registered for the Saturday morning classes.
"Is that Kate?" Barek asked as she sat behind her desk.
"Yeah, welcome back," he said, pulling his eyes from his wife. "Nice of you to join us. How'd it go downtown?"
"You're not going to believe this, but the Fed wants me back," she began.
"You're shitting me," he replied, sensing the loss of yet another partner floating on the horizon.
"I'm serious," she went on, "They made me a very good offer."
"And?"
"I'm thinking about it. They want an answer by tomorrow."
"You gonna take it?"
"I don't know, Mike. An offer like this doesn't come around every day."
"You gotta do what's right for you," he replied, wanting to sound encouraging.
"I know," she sighed, "Is the Captain in his office? I need to talk to him."
Logan looked over to find Kate and the Captain parting ways. "He's heading in now."
"I'll be back," she said, standing and walking across the office.
As Logan watched her walk away, Kate approached his desk. "Hey there, Detective Logan," she began.
He stood up and gave her a broad smile. "Hey, yourself. So, Goren and Eames scored a visit from the Exec, huh?"
"Yeah, they did."
"Wanna sit down?" he offered, noting the tiredness in her eyes.
"Nah, I've gotta get back to my office," she dismissed. "You mind if we do take out tonight?"
"Think you'll be able to stay awake during dinner?" he teased.
"I've got to," she sighed, "I've got case files to review."
"Katie," he warned.
"Not here," she dismissed. "You can yell at me when we get home. Now, I need to get back to work. See you tonight."
Resisting the urge to kiss her, he nodded. "See you at home."
He watched her leave, and then turned his attention back to Captain Ross's glass walled office. Barek was still inside. He watched, as she talked to Ross, then stood and shook his hand. Yeah, he decided, she's taking The Fed's offer.
As Barek walked out of Ross' office, he picked up his mug, took another drink, and focused his attention on the folder on his desk.
"Hey, Mike," Barek began, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Yeah, what's up?" he asked, looking up.
"I'm taking the job with the Fed," she announced.
He nodded, "They must've made one hell of an offer."
"They did," she agreed. "Only problem is, I need to start right away."
He raised a brow, "How soon?"
"I fly down to Washington over the weekend and begin retraining on Monday."
"No shit. Doesn't give us much time for a going away party, huh?"
"Mike…" she began, thinking carefully about what she wanted to say. "Look, this had nothing to do with my time working with you."
"I didn't think it did," he returned. "You gotta do what's right for you."
"Then you're okay with this?" she asked, her expression hopeful.
"I will be," he gave her a smile, "Just keep in touch, okay?"
"Of course I will," she returned the smile, "You better send me baby pictures."
Office of Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
Manhattan, NY
September 1, 2006
4:30pm
"So," Elizabeth began, "How are you, Mike?"
"I'm fine," he returned. "I'm here because Ross asked me to come."
"You're losing another partner, he thought you might need to talk about it," she offered.
Logan shrugged, "She's going back to The Fed. It's no big deal."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Elizabeth thought for a moment, then brightly asked, "How's Kate?"
Logan smiled, "Good, she's tired most of the time, but good."
"How far along is she now?"
"Like five months?" he shrugged.
"So, she's showing now?"
"Yeah, she finally gave in and got some maternity clothes," he said.
"I remember that stage, it becomes more real for everyone. You start feeling movement, hearing the heartbeat…"
"Yeah, it stops looking like a peanut and starts looking like a baby," he agreed, then, "An alien baby, but a baby."
Elizabeth laughed. "You've got a point. So, how does impending fatherhood feel?"
Logan shrugged again. "Okay, I guess. She's the one going through everything; I'm just along for the ride."
"You certainly seem to be adjusting to it," she began, then, "No second thoughts?"
Logan laughed. "It's a little late for that now, isn't it?"
"You know what I mean, Mike."
"Yeah, I guess sometimes I wonder what the hell I think I'm doing, but from what I hear, that's normal."
"It is," she nodded. "Knowing your history and the way you felt about children, it certainly wouldn't be unreasonable to have those feelings a little more than normal."
"I don't," he firmly said, "We didn't plan on this, but it happened. Kate was all freaked out in the beginning; she was worried that I didn't want it, that I couldn't handle it…" He shook his head. "She even went as far as offering to get an abortion."
Elizabeth raised a brow. "What was your reaction to her offer?"
"I wouldn't even consider it."
"Why not?"
"I knew she wanted a kid," he simply said.
"And you went along, even though you didn't?"
"It wasn't like that," he dismissed. "Look, I'll admit I had a lousy childhood. I never thought I could do the whole kid thing and never really wanted to. Until Me and Kate got back together again."
"She said she wanted kids?"
He shook his head, "No. She said she was fine with not having any. She kept saying we should get a dog instead. I was gonna take her up on the dog once we bought our own place."
"So she was willing to go along with your decision."
"Yeah, she was," he said, not liking the way that sounded. "She's good with kids. She's so into my niece."
"How's it going with your sister?"
"Good. Tess got a job at the courthouse and the money that Joe Logan left her got her squared away."
"And how does it feel to have a sister?"
"She's a good kid," he shrugged. "We have her and Bree over all the time. She and Kate are thick as thieves."
"And now that you've met your father? Does that help with how you're feeling about fatherhood?"
Logan snorted, "Yeah, he gave me a great guide on what not to do."
"What about Kate's family? How do they feel about the baby?"
"They're thrilled. They took Tess and Bree in like they were family, too."
"So, except for Carolyn leaving, life is good."
"Life is good. And like I said, Barek was a good partner. She's gotta do what she needs to do for herself. Yeah, I'll miss having her around, but I'm not gonna flip out because she's going back to the Fed." He shook his head, "This ain't like before, and she's going on her own free will. She ain't dead, and she ain't dying."
"Good," Elizabeth nodded. "I can tell you're being honest with me."
He laughed, "After all these years, why the hell would I try to lie to you?"
"You'd be surprised what people will do," she smiled.
"I might not want to be here, but I'm not gonna waste our time by bullshitting you. Life is good. Yeah, I'm scared shitless about the baby, but I'm learning how to handle kids. Kate and Tess seem to think I'm doin' pretty good with Bree."
"You're one of the lucky ones, Mike. Sometime people who've had abusive childhoods repeat their parent's mistakes."
"I'm not an alcoholic; I ain't gonna leave, and the idea of beating my kid for sport just isn't high on my list of priorities."
"Good, just know that I'm here. As your child grows, it gets difficult. There are times when you will get so mad at them that you might…"
"Stop," he said, holding up his hand. "I ain't saying I'm gonna be a perfect parent, but trust me…that will not happen."
"I believe you, Mike," Elizabeth sincerely said. "I just want you to know that if you need to talk, you can call me. Any time, day or night."
"I appreciate that," he nodded. "Now, is there anything else we need to talk about or am I free to go?"
"You're free to go. I'll tell Captain Ross that you're dealing with this fine and I have no need to have you come back."
Logan stood up, "Thanks," he began, "For that."
"Hey, I can only report what I believe," she winked. "Give Kate my best."
