Mike was staring silently, waiting for his partner to continue.

Steve looked down, as if collecting his thoughts, then nodded towards the TV. "Do you mind if I turn that down a bit?"

The older man nodded once. "Sure."

Steve got up and crossed to the TV. Mike's eyes followed him without expression. Standing at the foot of the bed, Steve took a deep breath. "He lives with his mother down in Daly City."

Mike nodded. "Barry told me his parents were divorced. They're from Sacramento, I think he said."

"Yeah… they are. Been here about six years. What else did Barry tell you, do you remember?"

Mike frowned slightly, looking down. "I was still a little out of it, but I think he said something about Adams being from a long line of cops…?"

Nodding, Steve moved back to the chair and sat. "Yeah. Yeah, that's what he told me too – father, grandfather, great-grandfather… Did Barry tell you anything else?"

Mike shook his head with a facial shrug. "Not that I can remember… I think we just talked about the, ah… what happened in the alley…"

Nodding, Steve flashed an encouragingly smile. "Okay, well, as you can probably guess, there was a lot of pressure on Chad to go into the family business. And he's an only child…" He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows slightly, hoping Mike would make the connection.

"So, ah, so Chad really didn't want to become a cop, did he? He did it because he felt it was expected of him…"

Steve continued to nod, chewing on his bottom lip. Then he started to shake his head slowly. "He's one of those guys who's just not cut out to be a cop, Mike… you've said it many times before. This guy could be the poster boy for it… I don't think there's an aggressive bone in his body…" He took a deep breath, looking his partner in the eye. "He was a scared kid in a uniform… with a gun…"

Mike nodded, looking down. "I, ah, I pretty much figured that out already… so what else do you want to tell me?" He raised his head and stared at the younger man confrontationally.

After a brief tense moment, Steve shook his head and smiled. His partner hadn't missed a beat and he was pleased to know Mike was firing on all cylinders even as he was recovering from what could so easily have been a career-ending, if not fatal, injury.

"Did, ah, did Barry tell you anything about why Adams parents divorced?"

Mike frowned and shook his head. "No… no, he didn't say a thing." He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't know…?"

"Probably not or he would've told you, I'm sure." Steve took a deep breath. "Chad and his dad had a… a falling out, I guess you might call it. It got pretty bad, he said, and his mother decided she needed to put some distance between them."

"So she divorced him and left town?"

With a sad sigh, Steve nodded. "Chad's gay, Mike." He let the revelation hang in the air for several seconds; the older man looked down and closed his eyes. They both knew the implications that one tiny word encompassed. "And his father wasn't exactly the open-minded, tolerant guy we all hope our parents are… right?"

Mike sighed heavily, bringing his left hand up to briefly rub across his eyes. "Did he hit him?" he asked softly.

With a sad and disgusted snort, Steve nodded sharply. "More than once… His mother knew she had to get him out of there before his father killed him…"

Mike inhaled slowly and closed his eyes. They were silent for several long seconds. "And he still wanted to become a cop?" he asked almost rhetorically, his voice little more than a whisper.

Nodding barely perceptibly, Steve stared at the floor. "He said he didn't want to let his grandfather down…"

Mike looked at him. "Is his grandfather still alive?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded. "He's retired… a captain." He looked up with a quick smile.

"What about the father?"

"He's a lieutenant in Robbery/Homicide."

Mike snorted dryly. "And I bet he's never had to pay for the way he treated his son, has he?"

Steve's laugh was short and bitter. "You got that right." He leaned forward and stared at the floor again then cleared his throat pointedly. "Listen, ah, he's really torn up about what happened… about what he did to you… He's never going to be the same, and he knows that… And he asked me if I could arrange for him to meet you…" He looked up into his partner's slightly frowning but expressionless blue eyes. "He wants to apologize… and he needs you to forgive him."

Mike stared at him without moving for several long seconds before he closed his eyes slowly and took a deep breath. After several still and quiet moments, he opened his eyes and smiled slightly, beginning to nod. "Of course I'll meet with him… and of course I'll forgive him. There was never any doubt about that, was there?"

Steve smiled warmly. "No, and I already told him you would but that I had to check with you first…"

Mike snorted a quick, affectionate laugh then stared straight ahead, his gaze unfocusing but a soft smile lingering on his lips. "Talk about 'walking a mile', hunh?" he said enigmatically and Steve grunted.

"Yeah," he agreed sadly, "you never know, do you? There's always two sides to every coin, isn't there?"

"And sometimes even more…"

"Yeah…" A companionable silence lengthened between them. Eventually Steve looked at his partner, smiled to himself, then got up and crossed back to the TV. He turned the sound up.

Mike looked up at the screen. As Steve dropped back into the chair, the older man laughed softly, "I see the Phillies are staging a comeback; they just scored two."

"So, what? It's 7 to 2 now?" Steve chuckled.

"8 to 2," Mike corrected with another laugh.

The younger man leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs, reaching towards the bed for a handful of peanuts. He stared at his partner's profile for a couple of seconds before turning to face the TV. He popped a couple of peanuts into his mouth. "Are you okay?" he asked, feigning nonchalance.

Mike glanced at him quickly. "I'm fine. Why?"

"I don't know, you just, ah, you look tired… Are you sleeping all right?"

Mike faced him, his brow slightly furrowed. "I'm sleeping fine," he said pedantically, hoping to put an end to this line of inquiry.

"Okay," Steve said lightly, popping a few more peanuts into his mouth as he looked at the TV again. But he wasn't convinced.

# # # # #

"Well, it's nice to see them win for a change," Steve chuckled as he turned the TV off. He glanced at his watch; it was almost 4.

"So, you going out with Mel tonight?"

"No, she's working, but she has Monday and Tuesday off. Oh, that reminds me, she wants to do that 'special dinner' for us on Tuesday night. Is that okay with you?"

Mike nodded enthusiastically. "Sure is; I'm looking forward to it."

"Good. Oh, and, ah, speaking of that, they're still talking about releasing you on Monday, right?"

"Yes…" Mike glared at him from under a lowered brow, pretty sure he knew what the young man was about to propose.

"I've already told Roy I was taking the morning off to drive you home… and that's what I want to talk to you about. I don't think it's a good idea for you to -"

"Steve, I'm going home," he interrupted smoothly and forcefully. "You're going to be working long hours, I'll be more comfortable in my own house, and besides, between all the food that Jeannie's left me and Mel coming over to make dinner on Tuesday, I won't even have to leave the house."

"But all those stairs…?"

"Which I only have to climb once, right? And I can do that with no problem. So don't worry about me, I'll be happier at home. I've been living there for over twenty years, you know, I'll be just fine…" He finished with a broad smile and raised eyebrows.

Steve inhaled deeply. "Mel said you'd say that."

"She's a smart young woman," the older man chuckled warmly.

Knowing he'd been bested, Steve started to pick up the detritus of their afternoon nosh, tossing the empty Cracker Jack boxes, peanut bag and drink cans in the garbage. "I'm gonna drop by your place tomorrow and pick up a change of clothes for you for Monday. Do you want anything else?"

Mike shook his head. "No, I can't think of anything."

"Okay. So do you think you'll be comfortable in the Porsche? I can probably nab the LTD but –"

"No, don't bother. I'll be okay in the Porsche."

"Okay, great." He looked around the room; all their garbage had been put away. He picked up the radio, looked at the bed and smiled. "I'm gonna head out, if it's okay with you. I want to drop by the office on the way home, see if we've gotten any bites on those Missing Persons notifications we put out." He started for the door.

"Hunh, at this rate, you'll still be working on it by the time I get back on duty," Mike laughed softly.

"Bite your tongue," Steve chuckled as he opened the door. He stared at his partner for a couple of long seconds. "Get some sleep, okay?" His tone was concerned and serious.

Mike smiled self-consciously. "I will." As the door closed, he called out, laughing, "Hey, thanks again for the peanuts and Cracker Jack!"

# # # # #

The blinding sunlight. The shout. The deafening report. The small piece of lead burying itself in his chest. Falling…

Mike came awake with a jerk and a strangled cry, his right hand clawing at his chest, his left clenching the blanket again. Gritting his teeth, he stared at the ceiling, both furious at and disappointed in himself at the same time.

Sleep was going to be a stranger again tonight.

# # # # #

It was another beautiful sunshine-filled Sunday and Steve was trying to make the most of it. He and Mel had gone out for brunch at a trendy new restaurant in North Beach then, after taking her home, he swung by Mike's and packed a bag for tomorrow.

He stopped briefly at the hospital to drop off the change of clothes, relieved but still a little concerned to find his partner sleeping during the day again. Still, he was gratified to see his slowly recovering partner was finally getting some much-needed rest.

He was toying with the idea of stopping by the office again later in the day; they actually had two possible 'missing persons' notifications that he and Tanner needed to follow through on. One was further upstate near Eureka and the other down around San Diego. Hopes weren't high but every lead had to be followed, every thread pulled, so to speak.

But at the moment his primary concern was his car. He really hadn't had time to give it much TLC since their return from Tahoe six days ago. The week had not gone the way he had anticipated but, all things considered, had turned out a whole lot better than it started.

He crossed the street with a bucket of soapy water and a large sponge, intending to give his pride and joy a much-needed bath. He put the bucket and sponge on the asphalt near the driver's side and opened the door. He lifted the leaver that folded the front seat and reached into the small area behind it to snag any garbage his initial clean-up had missed.

His fingertips touched what felt like a plastic bag and he pulled it out. He'd forgotten all about it he realized as, his eyebrows on the rise, he pulled the broken distributor cap out of the crumpled bag and stared at it, at the obvious crack across the top… the crack that had caused him so much guilt and grief.

He put the cap back in the bag and tossed it on the passenger seat. He knew Gino's was closed on Sundays, but he vowed he would be waiting when his mechanic showed up for work first thing Monday morning. He wanted an explanation and he wanted it now.