Returning to his office felt like a strange sort of deja-vu and Mike subconsciously glanced over his left shoulder, the spot where his partner usually followed suit, knowing well enough that Steve wasn't there.

The young Inspector had 10-20'd a while ago, signaling a delay during his investigation that would throw off their schedule by a good hour.

To Mike, that sounded an awful lot like progress.

As such, he'd suggested for the young Inspector to meet him for dinner at Tony's in an hour. The pizza place was located on the outskirts of the Tenderloin near 7th Street, allowing each detective a relatively short commute home after a long and trying day.

Surprisingly enough, Steve had agreed to the greasy pizza and over-salted garlic toast without a single complaint.

Returning to his office for a moment to ensure that no other calls had come in and nothing urgent had transpired concerning his detective's workload had been an easy formality, especially since Mike had to stop by Gerry's office, requesting a warrant to view any hiring and firing records of the Midtown Terrace Fire Department, a piece of paper he knew would be difficult to obtain when it came to city bureaucracy.

"Michael Stone…if it isn't the legend himself strolling the hallways."

The raspy voice from behind made him turn around in the long corridor leading up to Office 450, a place that was quickly growing deserted as the early evening hours settled in.

Dressed in his usual cheery candy-stripe dress shirt, gray tie and black slacks, Eugene Davis looked awfully out of place in a building he'd spent the past twenty-five years solving crime in. And yet, despite the morose cases and the ungratefulness of the general public, the MP Lieutenant never lost his charming smile.

The only difference from a quarter century ago was the gray highlights appearing amidst his black coif, a mixture of short and medium length waves of hair thrown together by a barber Mike hoped to never encounter.

"Gene. It's a pleasure seeing you up here."

Taking a step forward, he offered his outstretched hand, feeling the other man's sweaty palm against his.

"The pleasure is all mine. I heard you paid my department a visit and didn't bother to say hello to your old buddy."

Having expected that to be the motive for the unusual sighing of the MP Lieutenant a floor above his own, Mike smiled guardedly.

"I am sorry, Gene. We were busy. As usual. I guess that means I owe you a sinker, eh?"

"I might take you up on that.", the MP Lieutenant said laughingly, then moved over to lean against the corner wall, "Say, it sounds like we have cases interlacing. Anything we can do to help you guys?"

"I think we're all set for right now.", Mike lied cordially, then pointed his chin back at the bullpen, "We grabbed the Milan file from your guys for a bit, I was hoping to cross-reference a couple of our findings. We'll be sure to bring it back down tomorrow."

"Did you find a body, Mike? I've always wondered about that one."

"No…nothing like that. Her name came up during our investigation."

An investigation that included another name Mike was sure to keep from Davis for the time being.

"Mark my words, they're either going to find her on some deserted island living the dream or she fell and got killed climbing around abandoned buildings practicing for her job. Hopefully her body will turn up sooner or later."

Davis' perspective didn't seem too far off considering the circumstances and Mike nodded, keeping a hand in front of his mouth as his mind followed the new trail the MP Lieutenant presented.

"It's definitely a possibility.", he then said, "I'll keep you up to date on any findings we come across with our current case."

"Please do. I'd like to see this one closed. The Press has been pretty relentless about it."

Davis was about to turn around and head back to the elevators when he hesitated and faced Mike once more, a wily smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, and Michael…be nice to the guys downstairs, will you? They scare easily when you play your tricks."

With a genuine grin, Mike nodded amicably.

"I will Gene, I will."