Mia's POV

On Monday morning I walk nervously into the station. I tried all weekend to figure out what happened, without success.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Amy asks me as I enter the locker room. "Do you remember what happened, after we left?"

I shake my head and sit down. "Feeling better than Saturday morning, but I still cannot remember what happened!"

I did not tell anyone one where I woke up, even though I am busting to fill someone in. But I think it's better if I keep my mouth shut.

I get dressed and hurry out of the locker room and run straight into him.

Donavan Boyd is standing with a smirk in front of me. "You sure have a talent for running into people!"

I roll my eyes. "Well…be glad I didn't have any coffee in my hand, this time."

"Uhm...Can I talk to you quickly?" He asks me quietly.

"I...I...have to get to Parade" I tell him and try to push past him. But he grabs my arm and stops me. I really hoped I could avoid talking to him today...or for forever. I really don't fancy telling him that I do not remember anything, but then again he has the answers to my questions.

"Parade isn't for another 15 min" He informs me and I curse under my breath. Damn me and my need for being on time. "Just give me five minutes of your time." He seems desperate to get it out and behind him.

I nod and he pushes me into an empty office and closes the door. Thankfully this room doesn't have a window, like most offices in the station.

"How are you?" I look up in surprise. He is standing there and making small talk.

"I am fine. How are you?" I question.

"Good, thanks." By the look of things he doesn't seem to know how to continue, but neither do I. "So...listen...about Friday..."

"I can't remember what happened Friday night!" I blurt out. 'That's the way to go Mia, just get it all out there' I mock myself.


Boyd's POV

I stand there and stare at her. She can't remember? I must have not made a very good impression, and here I thought the sex was unbelievable and unforgettable. "What do you mean, you can't remember?"

"Well...I can barely remember my friends leaving and then nothing until I woke up in your bed...naked!" Mia informs me and I look at her dumbfounded.

"Say something?" Her voice is quiet, as if she is afraid what I might say.

I gather my thoughts and look at her. Better to bring this behind us. It is not like I wanted this to go anywhere anyways. "I am sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" She asks.

"You were obviously drunk than I thought, so I am sorry I took advantage of you. Didn't mean for it to happen...I should have just dropped you off at home, as I intended. Just…we were kissing in the cab and it got sort of out of hand…and I told the cab driver my address and well then…you know..!" Now I am stammering like an idiot. Well done, Donavan!

I clear my throat and continue as she doesn't say anything. "So…It was a good one night stand, but it can never happen again." A little bit of disappointment curses through my body as these words come out of my mouth.

"OH" I can see her gather her strength and put a brave face on. "Good...okay. Don't worry I won't tell anyone what happened." With that she leaves the office.

"Mia" I call after her, but she shuts the door, leaving me standing there like a fool. I wanted to clear the air and be upfront, but I feel like shit and I don't know why

I take a couple of breaths. Her perfume is still lingering in the air and a couple of images from Friday night go through my head.

During the last couple of days, I haven't been able to think about anything else, but that night.

I made a deal with myself five years ago and I am sticking to it. I cannot have a more than a one night stand with her, or anyone else. It is for the best, because I cannot risk that my job follows me home again. Next time might not end as well as the last time and someone will die.

I take another couple of breath, trying to push the disappointment away, before leaving the office. I keep on repeating 'its better this way' in my head all day.


Mia's POV

I leave the office and lean against the wall. I take a couple of deep breaths to get my heart rate back to normal.

It is not like as if I hoped that we end up in a relationship or anything. But I figured he would at least suggest another round of sex, since I couldn't remember anything. I sort of expected him to say 'How about we try this again? And this time I will make a lasting expression' or 'This time I will give you a night you will not forget'.

But I didn't get any of those things. He apologized and told me that it couldn't happen again. I probably didn't measure up with all his other bimbos. Well screw him! Maybe it is better this way. Sleeping with your superiors isn't something I had on my bucket list.

I take a deep breath to get my heart rate under control, push away from the wall and walk into the break room to get a coffee.

"MIA...Parade!" Andy calls over to me and I abandon my need for coffee for Parade. I still can get one after the meeting.


I was wrong. I did not get to have another coffee after Parade. As soon as we were finished, we all got called out to a car pileup on the Ontario 401 Express. A food truck's tire blew and at the speed the driver was going, it turned the truck over onto his side, causing the pork meat to fly all over the road. The car's behind the truck couldn't break in time and rammed into the truck.

The 401 Express is blocked for hours, for the clean-up. The outcome: 15 cars in total were in the accident; the truck driver and six other drivers injured; One Adult and three children dead. Andy and I have to do the death notification for the woman and her kids.

We notify the husband and he breaks completely down. He doesn't get out one coherent word. He went into a state of shock and we call the EMTS. I get a hold of his family and find out that they live in the states and will not get here until tomorrow morning.

Andy and the EMTs are afraid that the man could potentially harm himself and they take him to the hospital, for an overnight stay.

I blow out a breath as we drive back to the station. "I cannot believe this man lost his wife and his three kids in one day." Tears are threatening to fall and I blow out another breath.

I look at Andy, who also has tears in her eyes. "It's the toughest part of the job. And there is never a way to get it right. We can just try to do our best and notify someone who can stay with them."

"I know" I huff out. I am beyond tiered. The rest of the drive back to the station is spent in silence.

As we arrive Sam is already waiting for Andy. "Hey...are you okay?" His voice is laced with concern, as he walks up to her and draws her into a hug.

"Yeah, I am okay." I hear her tell him. She is lucky to have him.

"Hey Andy?" Andy's turns around in her husband's embrace to look at me. "I will do the paperwork. You go home to your baby." I have a feeling she needs to be with her son and her husband right now.

"No...No. I can't let you do that. If we do it together, it will be quicker." My T.O. tells me but I shake my head.

"Don't worry about it. You go on home." I smile at her and Andy comes towards me and gives me a hug.

"Thank you Clarke. I owe you" She tells me in a quiet voice and Sam nods at me as they walk off.

I look at my watch and realise it's already 8 pm. I put my gun and vest away and find a desk to work on. My thoughts keep going back to the man who lost his family. The way his face fell, as we told him that he his wife and kids wouldn't make it home anymore.

My heart is breaking for him. I know we are not supposed to get emotional involved in cases, but I cannot help it. Stuff like this just gets to me.

Especially since I still have my whole family and can't imagine what it would be like if one of them would be gone.

Tears are running down my face and I abandon my work and run to the locker rooms. Since shift change happened a few hours back, there is no one in there now and I can just have a few minutes to get myself back under control.


Boyd's POV

"Tell me where the boy is!" I snarl at the woman, but she doesn't budge. We have been at it for the past half an hour and Alesha isn't giving anything away.

Her boyfriend Callan attempted to murder his ex-wife and kidnapped his five year old son. Alesha helped him hide the boy.

We picked them up as they were just leaving a grocery store and since then we have been trying to get them to talk about where they are hiding him.

The little boy, Jamie, was kidnapped last night around 3 am and is Type 1 diabetic. He hasn't had his insulin shot in over 15 hours. If we don't find him soon, he could die.

We decided to start with the woman, but she isn't flipping on her boyfriend and I expect her to demand a lawyer any minute now.

"I ain't saying anything." The woman, opposite of me says and wants to take a sip of her bottle of water.

I have little patience and my limit has just been reached. I hit the bottle out of her hand. "Hey" Alesha screams and jumps up, but I walk around the table and push her back into the chair.

"YOU stand when I tell you to! We will lock you up for being an accomplice to attempted murder and to a kidnapping. You will easily go away for 15 years, if you don't tell us where Jamie is!" I yell and she flinches. "Now tell us where Jamie is and we can talk about a deal with the DA."

She is still not answering and I let out a frustrated sigh. I nod at Nash who is standing in the far corner. Traci sits down in the seat I just freed and tries the friendly route.

"Alesha..." Traci says calmly. "Jamie needs his insulin. He will die without it. Please tell us where he is!"

I walk up behind Alesha and come close to her right ear. "We can add murder, to your charges, if we find that boy dead. You will never get out of prison. You may as well kiss your hair extensions and manicures good bye forever!" I say in a low threatening voice and Traci shoots me a glare.

"I want a lawyer!" And there it is. Damn. Now we have to notify a public defender. It could take ages until one gets here.

Traci shrugs and we walk out of the interrogation room.

Swarek is lucky that he went home earlier and left me to be baby sat by Nash. We probably will be awhile here.

"I will go and call a public defender! You want to get us some coffee before we go and talk to Callan?" Traci asks and I nod.

She walks towards our office and I walk towards the break room. Just as I am about to turn into the break room, I see Mia running into the locker room, wiping her cheeks.

I heard from Swarek that they had a bad day. I try to fight the urge to go after her, but in the end I give in.

I can hear her sobs before I even turn the corner into the locker room. I find sitting on the ground leaning on a locker, with her knees drawn to her chest and her head on her knees.

I don't want to startle her, so I make an effort to walk a little louder, before come to sit on the bench in front of her.

Her head pops up as I sit down. "What do you want Boyd?" She snaps and wipes her face angrily.

"Are you okay?" I ask her and can't help the concern in my voice.

"Do I look okay?" Mia glares at me.

"Okay…I deserved that. No you do not, that's why I am in here. I heard you guys had a tough day" I really don't like to see women cry. I always feel helpless. When my little nieces cried I gave them anything they asked for, just so that they would stop and smile again.

My sister in-law, was very emotional as she was pregnant with Marie. My brother was at work and I was keeping her company. Anne started crying uncontrollably as we were watching Happy Gilmore. It broke my heart to see her cry like that and I wasn't able to make anything better for her. The only thing that calmed her down was a giant tub of Ice cream and Finding Nemo.

"Tough is an understatement" Mia replies and some more tears make it down her face. I move and come to sit next to her on the ground. Her head has found its way back onto her knees.

"Tell me about it" I say in a calm voice and look at her.

"You don't want to hear about it!" She tells me and looks at me, but I shake my head.

"Talking about it will help, so tell me!" I mean it. In my time as a cop, I had a few death notifications that left me very emotional afterwards. And since I don't cry or like to talk about it, I went, got blindly drunk and had sex with a stranger. It did the job and I was able to put it behind me.

And something about her getting blindly drunk and picking up a stranger rubs me the wrong way.

"This guy lost his entire family today, his wife and three kids. He was so distraught and in shock they had to take him away to the hospital, since his family lives in the states and his wife didn't have any family anymore." More tears escape her eyes. I move my hand and wipe them away.

I just couldn't help myself. She sniffels again and then continues. "He just got home from a business trip and they were just on their way home to him. One stupid truck blows his tire and a guy loses his entire family! And as he opened the door for us he had a huge smile on his face because he thought we were his family."

"Did the first responders do everything possible to save his family?" I ask and she nods. "It is not your fault; even it may feel like it at the moment. There is nothing you could have done. And unfortunately there is nothing I or anyone else can do or say to make you feel better. Unfortunately this is part of our job."

I put an arm around her and draw her onto my shoulder. We sit there for a few minutes in silence until she speaks up.

"Thank you…Who knew that you were this nice?" She looks up and smirks at me, with her blue eyes looking right into mine. Her face is puffy and read, but she looks still beautiful to me.

"Don't tell anyone, or my reputation will be forever shot to hell!" I reply with a smirk of my own. She puts her head back down on my shoulder and sniffels. Thankfully the tears have stopped.

"I am sorry you know" I say and clear my throat. "It is not like it was bad or I find you unattractive, it is just that I don't do anything past a one-night stand." My choice of words from this morning, have been playing in my head since then and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make it right.

It takes a few minutes before she answers. "No need to be sorry. It's okay. Just can we put the whole 'me blowing your UC OP' behind us and be at least friendly to each other?"

Her head is still on my shoulder; I smile at her remark and nod. "Sure…Just don't do it again okay?" That causes her to laugh.

My phone beeps and I fish it out of my pocket. It is a message from Traci asking where her coffee is.

"Hey…" I say and Mia looks up. "How about you come and help me?"

"Doing what?" She asks suspiciously.

"We have a kid that is missing and if we don't find him soon he could die, because he needs his insulin. We could use another pair of eyes." She could look at the evidence again, while we talk to Callan. Maybe she will find something that we missed. "Would you be up for that?"

"Sure…anything to keep my mind occupied!" She says and I get up. I instantly miss her body tucked into mine. "I just going to wash my face and then I will come out!" She adds and I help her up.

I nod and leave the locker room to get some coffee. I make three cups and carry them back to the office.

"Who is the third cup for?" Traci questions as I come into the office.

Mia is just a couple of steps behind me and I hand her one as she catches up. "I thought we could use someone to look at it with a fresh set of eyes."

Traci nods and I fill in Mia, before we make our way to the interrogation room.

"What is that about? Why are you being so nice to her?" Traci looks suspiciously at me.

I shrug my shoulders. "The rookie had a rough day, figured I'd give her a break and something to do!" I tell her and open the door for us to step in.


Mia's POV

Nash and Boyd leave me and I sit down to look over the evidence. My mind goes back to the moment in the locker room and I have to smile. Boyd surprised me by being nice and gentle to me. There seems to be a story behind, why he cannot have more than a one night stand.

I cannot stop smiling and mentally slap myself. He told me he doesn't want more and I better stay as far away as possible from him. Because a guy like Donovan Boyd has the potential to break my heart.


I jump up and pump a fist in the air, I found a potential lead. I take the papers I just printed out and walk with quick steps towards the viewing room, to the interrogation of Callan. I knock on the glass and after a couple of more questions Boyd and Nash join me.

"What have you got?" Boyd's mood has gotten considerably worse since half an hour ago and I suspect it has everything to do with the suspect not talking.

"I may have a lead." I say and Nash raises an eyebrow. "Alesha's sister's husband owns multiple houses close to the convenience store where you guys picked them up. I checked and just three of them are unoccupied at the moment." I hand the sheet of paper with the addresses over to Nash and Boyd.

"It's worth checking out." Nash says and Boyd nods. I cannot help the smile that is spreading on my face. "Good job, Clarke!"

"Alright, let's go and check it out!" Nash says and opens up the door. Boyd follows her and I am left behind in the room. I am a little bit disappointed that I cannot go with them.

A couple of seconds Boyd pokes his head back into the room. "Hurry up and get your gun!"

I don't need to be asked twice. I quickly retrieve my gun, vest and jacket and follow them in my cruiser.


The first two houses were a bust and my mood is getting worse. I hope we find the boy soon, because I really do not want to make another death notification today.

We clear the third house and find the boy in a bed in an upstairs bedroom. Thankfully the EMTs came along with us and they immediately give the boy his shot. Jamie is taken to the hospital and Nash calls the mother to tell her which hospital Jamie is taken to.

It's now 10 PM and I am dead on my feet. I still have to do my paperwork.

"Go home Clarke!" Boyd tells as he comes up next to me. "You look like you will fall over any minute."

I nod and walk over to my cruiser. "Thank you for the help, you did a great job!" He shouts over and I flash him a smile.


One hour later I lie in my bed but sleep doesn't want to take over. My brother had to come over and pick me up from the station, because I wasn't feeling up to driving my car.

I am glad the day ended on a good note. Finding that boy showed me that what we do does help people. And it gives me hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

My phone beeps and I look at it. I don't recognize the number, but open the message anyway.

'Not all news we deliver r bad, like with that boy 2day.u did a great 't let 1 bad thing drag u u r feeling better. '

I smile at that message. It is weird that he is being this nice to me. I hit the reply button and start writing.


Boyd's POV

I take a sip of my beer and relax on the couch. I am glad this day is over. Nash and I decided that we would come in earlier tomorrow and do the paperwork then.

My phone beeps and I laugh.

'B careful or I might start to get used 2 u being so nice 2 me'

I couldn't help myself and looked up her phone number in the system at work. I just had to make sure she was okay and by the look of this message, she is.


Author's note

Am I winning you over yet? ;)

This turned out to be a little longer than intended, as per usual. My Chapters seem to take a life of their own when I write.

Thank you once again for all the comments. Huge thanks goes out To Ashley again, for her help.

Stay tuned peeps, there is more to come!