Thane paced in the safehouse, bored, tense and hating the confinement. It was worse now he had been to Heath's, been with Heath, but after Heath's confession about what their relationship could mean to his job, Thane was torn. With all that had gone before, he couldn't jeopardise the trial because Morgan in jail would see them both a hell of a lot safer than it would be with him free. He made a promise to himself as he'd walked away not to go back until the trial was behind them and then he was never leaving Heath again.

Thane sighed, heading for the tiny kitchenette area, past the front door and where one of the two 'guards' sat. The other was outside, watching his last route of escape out the window and down the fire escape. The guard looked as bored as he did and actually perked up when there was a knock at the door. He headed to it, one hand on the gun at his hip and Thane watched with vague interest but not a great deal of care about who it was.

Jazz greeted the guard as he opened the door, and grinned slightly as the guard seemed to deflate that it wasn't anyone or anything exciting but still snapped off a brief salute.

"Sir."

Jazz waved a hand, "Both o' yeh, scram. Go grab a sandwich or sommat." He looked towards Thane. "We need t'talk."

"But sir-"

The saboteur cut the guard off with a look, and reluctantly he left the room to grab his partner.

"Give us half an hour," he called after them, receiving a "yessir" in response. Once he was gone Jazz locked the door behind him and then leaned against it, tossing the keys in one hand. "So…"

Thane eyed him for a minute before going back to what he had been doing before, making coffee. "I hope you don't care what this comes out like. It's not the best coffee ever."

Jazz raised an eyebrow, "Anythin's better than hospital coffee." He caught the keys in one hand in a rather dramatic gesture, but stayed at the door. "'M not here t' tell yeh off, though I think Orion would probably want that."

"Like I give a fuck if either of you want to do that," Thane gave Jazz a flat look, not impressed.

Jazz matched his unimpressed look, choosing that moment to stride forward and level himself with the assault specialist. Golden eyes narrowed. "Listen, Thane, 'm in charge o' yer protection while this whole thing's goin' on. I honestly don' care that yeh went t' see Heath, I'd've done th'same thing in yer shoes. What I don' like is yeh not recognizin' when yeh have an ally. Ya shoulda told meh where ya were goin' so I, at least, knew where yeh were." The African-American stepped back, folding his arms. "I know it ain't easy, but ya gotta trust meh a little more 'n that."

Thane stilled for a moment before carrying on making the drinks, almost robotically, "Did you really expect me to ask for help? I don't think you know me well enough to make that call and I went to see Heath… it's complicated and private."

"Yes," Jazz said simply. "I do." He placed a hand on the counter briefly and when it pulled away there was a small mobile phone. Nothing fancy and obviously a burner, but a phone nonetheless.

Thane stared at it for a long moment before sliding a mug of coffee towards Jazz. "I'm not going again. You don't need to worry about that now."

"Maybe not, but trust meh," Jazz tapped a finger to his temple, fingernails tapping the metal of his holder. "Yeh'll at least want t'talk t'him. Yeh can't do this without him."

The other man's fingers dug into his own mug, turning them white, "Don't remind me. It…" Thane's head turned to Jazz abruptly. "How do you know?"

The saboteur grinned at that, "Oh please, yer both 'bout as subtle as bein' bashed by a barn door. 'M observant, I see things." He tilted his head, dreads spilling over one shoulder. "Look, Thane, yeh gotta realize, 'm on yer side. Whatever yeh choose t' do, whatever yeh 'n Heath want, 'm behind ya. It'd b' real hypocritical o' meh not t', fer starters."

"Nothing had happened the last time you saw us so…" Thane shook his head. "It's not the same for you and McCallen and you know it. I could end Heath's career just by going anywhere near him and I'd never forgive myself if I did but at the same time…" He turned and walked away from the kitchenette, heading for a window and staring out of it without seeing, clutching his mug in both hands.

"I know," Jazz leaned against the counter. "Believe meh, I know. One toe outta line from either o' us, and one or both o' us lose our jobs. That follows us around so th'rest o' the career track's out." He shook his head. "Jus'... I understand, I know, 'n yeh gotta trust meh more. I trusted yeh gettin' us outta Morgan's hole, all 'm askin' is fer a little back." The saboteur pushed himself off the counter. "His number's th'only in the th'phone."

"Wouldn't need it anyway," a wry smile flashed briefly across Thane's face. "I'll use the phone and I won't slip out again." There was a moment of silence before Thane turned his head to see Jazz. "All I ask is that you watch out for him and you let me see Spencer and Warren before the trial. We have things we need to talk about."

The African-American inclined his head, visor dimming slightly. "Consider it done. Yer both under mah protection, I ain't lettin' anythin' happening t' either o' yeh. Yer trinemates have their new identities, but it won't b'hard t'arrange a meetin'."

"Good. Don't tell them. Warren can't keep a secret to save his ass," Thane nodded before sighing. "Thank you. I can't promise you my trust Jazz, not now. Maybe in the future but right now I'm too tired of all of this to try to break any habits of a lifetime."

Jazz snorted, "I hear that." He stretched his arms above his head, then wrapped both hands around his coffee mug. "At least lemme know next time yeh plan an excursion, yer lucky I managed t' avoid a manhunt last time." Taking a sip, he snickered slightly. "Though I guess it woulda broken th'monotony o' paperwork…"

"No more excursions. I won't be breaking up the paperwork," Thane smirked for a moment. "And I'm glad it didn't because I'm not ready to share Heath with the world yet."

Jazz chuckled with a noncommittal noise, settling onto one of the stools around the kitchen counter to wait for the guards to get back. "Th' world can wait, man. Yeh got sommat good, hang on t' it."

"I know," Thane shook his head. "He's mad, he shouldn't be with someone like me but he keeps letting me stay…" He shrugged, looking down at his coffee.

"So does Adam," Jazz looked at the assault specialist with a brightening visor. "Mayb' we jus' attract th'mad ones."

The other man snorted loudly into his coffee, nearly spraying it everywhere. "That would explain so much. Detectives Mad and Madder."

"God that sounds like a bad sitcom, or romcom," Jazz laughed. "Th' Madness Twins. That'll b' their new nicknames round th'precinct."

"I've met the Twins, we don't need anymore and I hate romcoms, so I say we'll be forced to keep them a little bit sane to save them from that fate."

"Oh, I think we might enjoy that," the saboteur remarked, hiding his smirk behind his coffee.

Thane didn't reply but his mood felt lighter than it had been since he'd walked away from Heath. It wouldn't stay like this, but it was nice to be able to joke around with someone who knew and didn't care, who wouldn't judge his bad life choices. Jazz had made more than enough of his own. Thane felt almost tempted to ask the Lieutenant to come back some time but he wouldn't. It felt too much like weakness and he knew he'd be caught up thinking to really be any good company. Jasper would see Heath was safe and that was all Thane wanted.

xxx

Heath's phone chirped as he received a new text message and it took him a long moment to fish it out of his cargo pants, really not that interested in who was texting him. He frowned when he didn't recognise the number but opened the text message anyway. The confusion only lasted for a second or two after Heath finished reading the message before his heart constricted in his chest.

'I promised I'd stay away but I can't do this without you.'

Heath rapidly typed out his response and waited with baited breath for a reply, praying he was right. 'Thane? How did you get a phone?'

'Miles gave me one. He was understanding.'

Heath smiled painfully at that, clutching at his phone. 'I miss you.' As soon as Heath had sent it, he panicked, wondering if that was ok to say that, whether it was too much like this. 'I'm sorry. Was that too much?'

'Don't. I know. Don't ever apologise for that.'

Heath felt relief at that, that he could feel this torn up inside and he wasn't alone. Thane's next text message appeared before he could reply.

'I want to be there. I want to be with you. I want to touch you.'

The detective was dialling the number before he could ever think about talking himself out of it or why it was such a bad idea. Thane picked up almost instantly and said in hushed tones, "Give me a minute." Heath listened to him shut a door, a radio come on and then a shower. "You shouldn't call."

"I know. I wasn't thinking. I just…" Heath sighed. "I wanted to hear your voice."

"We're so screwed, you know that?"

'Yeah,' Heath thought. 'I'm in love with someone I will probably never see again.' But he didn't say that outloud. "We'll be alright."

"You're a shit liar," Thane commented lightly.

"Do you care?"

"Right now, no."

There was silence for a long time, both of them just listening to the other breathe.

"Can I… I want to talk to you again," Heath said, letting himself be honest.

"I'll let you know when I can but there is normally a guard in the apartment with me," Thane sounded tired at that and Heath knew the confinement grated at him.

"I'll always pick up for you."

Heath heard Thane let out a long, hard breath and when he spoke his voice was barely audible.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Heath. Not right now."

"It's one I intend to keep," the detective vowed. "I didn't say what I said to you in my bed lightly Thane. I don't know what you think that means, but to me-"

"I know. Shit, I know alright? It's just… There are so many people standing between us right now. Before people might have killed us… now we could just ruin our lives and have to live with it."

"You make that sound worse," Heath couldn't hide the bite of hurt in his tone.

"You're safer without me either way," Thane admitted, voice bitter. "But I can't give you up."

"I don't want you to. I don't want to be safe," Heath buried his face in his free hand, feeling a little sick from the mix of emotions churning in his gut. "I want you."

"Stop." There was more than a hint of desperation in Thane's voice. "We shouldn't talk about this over the phone."

"I'm sorry, I'll go," Heath dropped his hand.

"Don't leave mad, Heath… I didn't mean…"

"I'm not mad Thane. I'm not. I just… You're right and I hate it… this… I shouldn't have called. I'll go back to texts." That also meant he could feel ill without Thane worrying about how sick this was all making him feel. Never before had Heath wanted to crawl into bed with his phone and do nothing else but feel miserable, and talk to Thane, which made him simultaneously better and worse.

"I'll call you soon instead, alright?" Thane sounded even more desperate now, as if this conversation was tearing him up the same way as it was Heath.

"Yeah alright…" Heath hesitated, wanting to say those three words again but hung up before he let himself. A text message from Thane came through almost straight away.

'I'm sorry. One day I'll make it up to you and that's not an empty promise.'

Heath did go to bed then, phone making its way under the covers as a lifeline to Thane that was saving him as much as drowning him. He fell asleep still texting Thane, mobile held in his hand and stress lines etched into his face.

xxx

Thane got to see Warren and Spencer one last time before the trial started. Each of them had a part to play but Thane was more deeply involved given his part in Jazz's escape and his relationship with Heath. Both of them were pleased to see him, though Spencer was more withdrawn than Warren and Thane guessed he wasn't enjoying being cooped up. The youngest member of their trine was still himself, though had clearly missed Thane, which had to mean that they had seen each other in their safe houses.

"They let you meet?"

"They put us together," Spencer replied, arms folded over his chest. "They wouldn't let us see you though or even answer any questions. I don't like being kept out of the loop like that Thundercracker."

"I'm a more material witness than you, Starscream," Thane hated their nicknames, them having come from their youth and immature times.

"I'm not stupid Thane. I know it's about your cop," the other man bit back.

Thane looked away, staying silent. Warren sighed, "That means we were right then doesn't it?" Thane looked at him, frowning slightly. "That you're not coming with us."

"None of our new identities will have contact," Thane replied.

"Like that would stop us," Warren snorted, waving a hand dismissively and Thane had to concede that point. "But regardless, you're not coming."

"No," Thane shook his head. "Find yourselves something good. Go some place warm and out of this stinking place. Get your pilot's license like you've always wanted and go fly."

Warren looked sad but not like he'd argue. Spencer just looked moody and pissed, which wasn't anything new. Thane knew they both deserved more of an answer than that, for all of their years spent together and the promises they'd made each other.

"You were right Warp," Thane scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I should have paid more attention to my feelings before now. I put it off and ignored them but now I can't."

"You fucked him didn't you?" Spencer sneered. "And now you won't leave him. All of the things we've done together, for each other, mean nothing when you can go fuck him."

"Spencer, don't test me on this," Thane warned. "I would do anything for Heath but I will not leave, not now. Our trine was, for the longest time, the most and only important thing in my life and you know it, but Heath offers me more than I knew I wanted and I'm not so much of an idiot to let that go."

"Does he know this?" Warren asked, watching Thane and ignoring the animosity between him and Spencer with long practice ease.

Thane knew his face flickered with doubt before he could stop it but lied anyway. "Yes."

"Now you are being an idiot," Spencer commented, shaking his head. "If you're going to abandon us at least tell him what he's destroyed."

"Spence, don't be like that," Warren pushed at him. "You'll miss Thane as much as I will and you're only being a dick because of that."

"Shut up!" Spencer turned away from the pair of them and Warren shrugged at Thane helplessly.

Thane scowled, "I could tell you that this is your fault, that you pushing at Morgan for more got us into this situation where none of us were happy or safe, but unlike you I'm not that much of a bitch." Spencer snarled at him, expression tight and lip curled as he went to snap back. "But the truth is it wouldn't have mattered what the rest of my life was like, Heath made it better and will always do that because of who he is. I want that and I'm not giving it up."

"Fuck everything else," Spencer glared at him.

"If you want to be that petty, yes, fuck everything else."

"You know someone will come after you if you stay," Warren said quietly. "That Morgan won't take what you've done quietly."

"No, but he'd target Heath regardless of whether I was here or not, so I have to stay to watch his back," Thane shrugged. "You know it's something I'm good at Warp." The youngest man nodded, accepting, but still looking miserable around the edges. "But if I'm here, you know where I am."

Warren did brighten at that, "I'll send you a postcard!"

"You know you're not supposed to contact me," Thane said, but there was a small smile hovering on his lips.

"Like Warren said, like that would stop us," Spencer returned, tone less snappy than before.

"You wanted out. You've got it. They can do it far better than I can," Thane nodded at the door, indicating the wider presence of the 'good guys' beyond.

"You wanted out too," Warren replied, wary, like he wasn't so sure anymore.

"I've got it too," Thane sighed. "We're all compromising, which is not something any of us likes doing."

Spencer scowled but didn't argue. Warren nodded, almost to himself. Jazz appeared through the door then, glancing between all of them, gauging the mood.

"Time's up. Transport's here."

Thane nodded. Warren and Spencer reluctantly walked towards the door, aware this could be their last time in each other's company. Warren made eye contact with Thane before he past Jazz, "See you around Thane."

"Yeah Warren, some time," Thane replied, keeping his voice easy and level.

Spencer stopped by Jasper instead, narrowing his eyes at the shorter man, "If anything ever happens to him, I'm holding you responsible."

"Spencer…" Thane warned but Jazz just inclined his head slightly.

"I've got his back."

Spencer snorted in disbelief but left nevertheless. Thane joined Jazz at the door for a moment before the Lieutenant left, "Don't make promises you can't keep. Spencer may be self absorbed but he remembers that sort of thing."

"I ain't," Jazz replied briefly. Then he was gone, after the two men and to the transport for them.

xxx

Heath sighed, rubbing at his eyes. He was tired, at the end of a night shift on his last day on out of four, his eyes itched and he was in serious need of some coffee if he was going to finish the last bit of paperwork before he was off shift for three days. He pushed his chair back and climbed to his feet, picking up his mug and wandered down the corridor to the common room. In all fairness this was his own fault because he'd taken on extra shifts to stop himself being at home alone where all he thought about was Thane. At work he could miss him but he could also hide in his work.

As he waited for the kettle to boil Heath saw Adam walk past and raised a hand in greeting. The other Detective tended to work alternate shifts to him so there was at least one of them on duty at some point during the day. He frowned momentarily as he heard someone singing, coming down the corridor towards the common room and he would have pegged it as Byron, but that was not his friend's voice. Plus he was sitting in the room.

Heath looked up from pouring his coffee just as Jazz danced his way in, singing Whitney Houston and moving far too much for a man who had recently been shot through and through.

"Oh I wanna dance with somebody," sang Jazz, drawing Byron from his seat at one of the tables and making him stand up to dance with the saboteur. "With somebody who loves me."

Byron snickered, obliging his friend and starting to sway, "Pretty sure ya singin' that to the wrong person, dude."

"He's standin' at th'door. He knows who I'm singin' to,"Jazz came over to Heath, trying to get him to join in and Heath glanced over to see Adam standing there, arms folded. He clutched his coffee, laughing slightly as the Lieutenant gave him the biggest pair of puppy eyes.

"Are you sure you should be doing this? I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be on bedrest, not disco duty."

Jazz shrugged, spinning away with a mad grin as Raji rolled his eyes and got up to start moving with Byron from where he'd been sat at the same the table.

"'M goin' mad stuck in bed all day, man. I need t'do somethin' t'keep mehself entertained!"

"And this is restful entertainment for you, is it?" Adam finally spoke, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Nope," the dreadlocked man unhooked himself from his iPod and plugged it in instead to the speakers next to the kettle, letting Whitney properly loose in the common room. "This is what I call a cure fer sheer boredom." He pranced back up to Adam and tugged on a sleeve, "C'mon, Prowler, come dance with meh!"

"Thanks, no."

"Spoilsport." Jazz blew a raspberry at the older man, and Adam let out an exasperated sigh as he remembered just how immature his partner could be.

"Jazz, you're hardly in any condition to be-"

"Adam," Jazz interrupted, suddenly looking perfectly serious and, somehow, straight into Adam's eyes. "'m fine. Trust meh, I'd b' th'first t' stop mehself if it got too much. This ain't doin' anythin' but makin' meh feel a load better." Adam blinked, and Jazz was abruptly back to his mile wide grin, "Now, yeh sure yer not joinin' in?"

Adam stepped aside to allow Dana, Ben, Skylar and Simon through to join the dance-off that was now happening a few feet away between Byron and Raji, Heath laughingly caught in the middle. "No, thank you Jazz. I'm fine."

"Eh, yer loss."

Heath extracted himself from his mad colleagues, protecting his coffee and got himself out of the common room without scalding his hands, citing work and the end of his shift. Jazz's visor lifted to Adam, flicking over to Heath briefly, and shrugged slightly. Adam watched him go past with a slight frown, and made to leave himself shortly afterwards but was stopped when Byron ceased his shimmying to go stand next to the saboteur, leaning on his shoulder.

"That's the first time I've seen him smile in a while," he commented. "Nice work. I've been tryin' for ages."

"Really…" Jazz eyed his friend, then his gaze went back to Prowl. "Well, that's good." The saboteur hesitated a couple more seconds, then turned to face Byron fully, "Keep th'party goin', I'll b'back in a few."

"Roger," Byron nodded, lifting his arm off Jasper's shoulder and heading back into the fray. Jazz walked up to his partner. "Yeh heard that?"

"Yes," Adam's eyes followed the corridor down which Heath had vanished. "I heard."

"I can't go talk t'him. Yeh'll have t'do it."

"Why not?"

"'Cause this is all mah fault in th'firs' place," Jazz replied, unconsciously starting to rub at his wounds. "This wouldn't b'happening if it weren't fer meh. I ain't sure 'm th'best person fer Heath t'see right now."

There was another exasperated sigh. Jazz's self-recriminations had gotten worse as the trial got closer, and while he kept it pretty well hidden there were awkward times it decided to rear its ugly head. "You're an idiot," Prowl said firmly. "Why do I even bother sometimes…"

"Yeh love meh," was the glib answer, and they both knew Adam had no reply to that. Instead all the African-American got was a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed. Lord knows why. You and I are going to have to talk about these moronic assumptions of yours when we get home." The detective put a hand on his partner's shoulder. "But if you feel that way, I'll talk to him."

"Thanks, man," Jazz's smile was small but bright, and with that he was back amongst the dancers sliding around to Michael Jackson, putting forth an obvious challenge to Byron who had so far been wiping the floor with everyone else. The detective stepped back to allow a visiting Aimee and Frieda to join in on the fun before making his way to Heath's office.

Heath had one hand wrapped around the mug of coffee with a pen busy in the other as he filled out the filing sheet for the front of his folder, scribbling away. He didn't notice Adam appear in the doorway. Adam stayed for a moment, observing the other with a steady gaze before speaking quietly.

"He is rather good for that, isn't he? Jazz."

Heath jumped in his seat slightly, but managed to avoid jerking his coffee over his work, "Oh… Adam, I didn't see you there. Sorry, what did you say?"

The brunette simply raised an eyebrow, "Obviously. I said Jazz is good for making people smile. Byron says he has not seen you smile for some time now."

"Ah," Heath glanced back down at his work. "I guess not."

"Tell me," Adam said, coming further into Heath's office and settling by the Maidenhair.

Heath's eyes flicked to the plant before he put his pen down and sort of turned to face Adam, "I'm not sure what to say. I miss Thane but I know this is for his safety. I know he'll get a new life when the trial is over but I don't want him to. I know exactly what has to happen, what will happen and I'm just supposed to… accept it."

"We're the police, Heath. Right and wrong, black and white." Adam kept his voice deliberately light and completely neutral, but sharp eyes never strayed from the other detective.

"I know and I've never…" Heath let out a chuckle that sounded so wrong; rough and wounded. "I've never once doubted what we do. Now, I'm doubting and considering doing things that would be wrong."

At that Prowl cracked a slight smile, "Allow me to remind you who my partner is, who he used to be."

"Allow me to remind you he was a police officer when you met him," Heath raised an eyebrow. "He already proved to a lot of people higher up the system that he's worth keeping around."

"There is no statute of limitations on murder, Heath. Our black and white world says he deserves to be behind bars, no matter what kind of life he has made himself."

"Lots of people make plea bargains all the time and never serve the time for their actual crime," Heath shook his head. "You know it never works out like that and I wasn't talking at Thane's past. I was talking about my future… or not."

"What makes you think your future here is anything but what it was before?" Adam questioned, tilting his head. "Have you done anything wrong?"

Heath laughed then, muffling it into his hand, "Section 4.9, lying to Orion, and whatever I'll probably end up doing in the future."

The brunette detective tutted, placing a hand on his hip. "Of course Lieutenant Miles and I have not at all broken other sections, and no one knows what the future holds. I don't see how that's a factor. It's… illogical."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Heath muttered before he sighed. "It's more because I'm even thinking about deliberately breaking the rules whereas I would never have before, that Thane could mean I'd-" He cut himself off abruptly.

"And now you class me as a rule-breaker," Adam smiled slightly. "Look, Heath, worrying about this will do you no good. We know you're a good cop, everyone does. We trust your judgement and after what we've pulled off here Orion is going to have quite a bit of sway. Do not think you are in any danger. Jazz would never allow it, for starters."

"I don't care about my life. I only care about what happens to Thane," Heath met Adam's gaze. "You know as well as I do he has to leave."

"That is his own choice," Prowl replied cryptically. "We cannot force him to do anything. It's simply for his… protection."

"Precisely," Heath shook his head. "He has to leave, otherwise how will he ever be safe and I could never live with myself if he stayed for me and something happened."

"And exactly what will you do, if he stays? Thane is his own person, detective, with his own mind and his own decisions. You have no say in the matter, so why blame yourself? Also illogical."

Heath's voice was so low it was barely audible, "If he stays I'll be the happiest man alive." He put his face in his hand and leant forward slightly, shoulders hunching. "Nothing makes sense anymore."

"You're too clouded with emotions, Heath," Adam moved away from the fern to stand next to the desk instead, fixing the detective with a level gaze. "It does make sense, but only if you can distance yourself enough to see it, which is why we are here."

There was a choked off sort of a laugh from behind Heath's hand, "If I could turn them off, I would. God I would."

"That is why we are here," Adam repeated insistently. "We all know Force is, first and foremost, your family. We cannot help you if you just keep bottling this up, Heath." There was a light snort. "Oh the irony. It helps, believe me."

Heath looked up then, expression a mixture of desperation and sadness, "I can't talk to anyone about this. Byron knows but I know he doesn't like Thane. You and Jazz have had your own troubles and scares, it wouldn't have been fair to give you mine as well." Heath sat up more, smoothing out his features. "Just… the trial will be over soon and then it'll be done. I'll be fine. You know me, you know I bounce back." It was a lie but Heath could hope Adam would either miss it or be kind enough to ignore it, even if he seemed determined to get Heath to talk.

There was silence for a moment, Adam's eyes narrowing at the other detective. "Yes, I know you," Prowl eventually said. "You give your all in everything you do. Your relationships are no different." He leaned forward slightly, putting a hand on Heath's shoulder. "Understand this, Heath. Jazz and I are past our hard parts, we are now learning how to balance ourselves instead of trying to sort out our messes. We are open, Jazz especially. He has both you and Thane to think about, and if one of you is not happy as circumstances allow then he considers it all a failure. Talk. To. Him." The last words were punctuated by a slight squeeze. "He thinks you blame him for all this, which is why he is not here talking to you himself. I say you are both idiots."

Heath quirked a brief, small smile at that, "We probably are. I'll talk to him, if only to tell him that it's not his fault. Thane and I are adults, we can make our own messes without help. I don't blame anyone."

"I know that. He doesn't. Or rather, he needs help believing that. He doesn't like when his friends pull away, all he wants is to make you smile." The brunette folded his arms. "Apparently we don't do that enough around here."

"Get Orion to add it to his job description," Heath met Prowl's eyes and nodded. "I will tell him. It's the least I can do since he gave Thane the phone." He winced slightly. "I'm hoping you know about that before I go and drop Jazz in it."

"Oh, I'm aware. He thinks he's so sly." Adam smirked slightly. "I think he's finally working out I am not so easily got past." There was a slight pause. "He already outranks most of us here, do we really need to add another title?"

"It's not one he can pull rank on though," Heath replied. "Anyone here could have told him that or did he think the Prowl nickname was just for fun?"

"He heard it, he liked it. Simple as." Prowl shrugged slightly. "It never sounds so... accusatory coming from him."

Heath smiled a little more then, "No, I'll bet it didn't."

"Hush you," Adam returned blandly, but he looked pleased to see Heath at least marginally happier.

"Go on. I've got to finish this before I can go home and you're on duty right now," Heath gestured at the door. "I'll talk to Jazz and I'll be fine."

Prowl made a noncommittal humming noise, but inclined his head towards his fellow detective satisfied that Heath would do as he said. He then turned on his heel and left, waving briefly over one shoulder. "Take care, Heath."

Heath watched him leave and when he was out of earshot, sighed. He appreciated Adam's words and would keep his word about talking to Jazz, but the tension curled in his gut wouldn't leave until this was over. Heath would have to live with it and pray it didn't turn into heartache.