"I swear to God, Professor K, I have memorized every single word of these reports and I can't find a single connection."
Sighing in obvious frustration, Luke ran a hand through his disheveled hair and took another sip of cold coffee, grimacing at the bitterness. Next to him, Squirrel had his head buried in his elbow, glancing over mugshots from a book that was lying askew against a stapler.
At this point, Steve wasn't sure if the young man was still awake or not and certainly couldn't tell with the thick hair hiding his eyes.
"Take a break for a couple of minutes, walk downstairs and grab some fresh air. Sometimes you can look at something for too long and miss important details."
At Steve's suggestion, Luke nodded wearily and tapped his friends' shoulder. Chuckling as he watched Squirrel flinch and slowly rise to his feet, the young Professor got up from behind Dan's desk to pour himself more coffee, hoping it would help push him through a long night that was quickly turning into a 48hr day.
With his mind drifting to Mike and wondering if there was any hope in Dan remembering the shooter, he never noticed his two students approach, until Luke carefully reached for his elbow.
"What about you, Professor K? You wanne take a walk with us? I mean, the same rules apply to you as well, don't they?"
Smiling at the young man's wit, Steve shook his head and squeezed Luke's shoulder affectionately, before using the hand holding his coffee to point toward the vestibule.
"I had plenty of fresh air earlier, believe me. You two take a break, you deserve it. Oh, and there's an old snack machine downstairs, in the entrance hall…if you throw in four dimes, then wait a few seconds and throw in another dime, it credits you a whole dollar. It's some mechanical issue that nobody seems to be able to figure out. The criminal element in me says you should take advantage of it and fill up on sugary snacks for a while, then come back up to help us solve this case."
The two young men chuckled heartily, when Squirrel cleared his throat and motioned for Mike's office.
"You know, I won't lie…it's pretty cool watching you and the Lieutenant work together. We only know you from class but this…it's like…you're taking us back in time with you, Professor K. All the stuff you've been talking about, the cases, the harmonics needed when you work with somebody as closely as you did with Lieutenant Stone, the way you guys talk to each other without saying a single word…it was all just stories until this case happened. It is…quite awe-inspiring to say the least. It makes me look forward to starting my law enforcement career. We just wanted to thank you for the opportunity once again."
Drowning in the melancholy of the treasured memories for a brief moment, Steve drew in a deep breath and fell silent, his green eyes drifting across the bullpen that used to be his home away from home. Reliving the wide array of emotions he experienced within the busy walls on the fourth floor of the Hall of Justice Building overlooking San Francisco, he couldn't help but wonder how much of his soul never really left this place.
"I know it's none of my business…", Luke then began nervously, trying to appear inconspicuous about his curiosity and yet Steve knew exactly which question would come next, "And I don't mean to be disrespectful in any way…but with your strong bond with Lieutenant Stone and after seeing how you obviously enjoy working here…why did you quit the force? Was it really worth trading for your teaching position at Berkeley? Not that we complain…but I just…I just wondered…"
With two sets of eyes staring at him apprehensively, Steve set his coffee down for a moment and crossed his arms in front of his chest, glancing at the floor to find the right words.
"When you…I guess when you are in this job long enough, sometimes the things that you see…they don't go away anymore. You see them in your sleep, you see them when you're awake, you see them when you should be paying attention to what's going on in front of you. And this issue can make you hesitate at times. And in our line of work, hesitation can be deadly. It nearly cost me my life four years ago. And while I wish that there was a pill you could take to stop these images, there simply isn't. No therapy in the world can take it away…at least none that I tried."
Squirrel nodded understandingly, a somber expression on his youthful features.
"So you wanted to ensure that you wouldn't get hurt again. You or the Lieutenant. And the easiest way was to switch careers."
"It was a bit more complicated than that but yes. In a roundabout way, that sums it up. The opportunity with Berkeley had come up again, like it had every year for the past three years, and I decided that it was time to put the badge away and see if I can make a difference in an entirely different way."
"I'll vouch for you! We know what you have done to help us learn and become better human beings, and I know many of the other students feel the exact same way.", Luke answered enthusiastically and smiled to bridge the awkwardness of their intimate conversation, "But see, you always think of the others, the students, the people here…what about you? Don't you miss the olden days sometimes?"
"I miss them every single day, believe me. While I don't regret making the change, I'd be lying if I said that there aren't days where I want to be back out on the streets and work with Mike. And I look back and realize just how privileged I was to be his partner for those few years. In the end, I just hope that what happened here is going to teach you one of the most important life lessons. One I had to learn the hard way.", Steve said and swallowed the pain from the memories that made up so much of his young adulthood and now read like an adventure-filled novel, "Cherish the good times, really, really cherish them. Live and breathe every single moment with as much intensity and focus as you can. Because change is inevitable and you never know when you end up having to move on from the most meaningful thing in your life."
Blinking away the tears welling up in his eyes, Steve glanced over toward the hallway, ready to send his students off for a break when he noticed Dewitt entering. With his cheeks flushed, the Captain crossed the empty bullpen in record time, breathing a rushed order to follow him, as he paced past the group and headed toward Mike's office.
As he shared an ominous glance with his students, Steve spun around on his heels and followed Dewitt into the office, just to watch him close the door behind them and draw in a deep breath, as he nervously fidgeted with his gray tie.
"We've got a problem, Stephen, a big one. And one we didn't need."
Shaking off the last of the grogginess from the nightlong research, Steve frowned and stepped closer to the severely distraught Roy, who'd stopped his manic pacing next to the large window behind Mike's desk, overlooking a San Francisco that was slowly waking up to a new morning.
When he didn't answer, the Captain turned around to face him, trying to mask the regret and insecurity radiating through every pore of his body.
"Conden called me this morning as I was leaving for the office. Seems that Tidari cornered Mike back at the hospital not too long ago. Asked some questions and then recorded the answers, but only the parts that benefit his agenda. And of course, he promptly released it to several radio stations in the area and is promising more detail on his show tonight."
"As in Sal Tidari? The reporter? Mike knows that guy is a clown. I know he's a clown. Mike wouldn't have said anything to make the police department look bad."
Even his encouraging words couldn't dampen the gloom and doom filling every crevice of the Lieutenant's office that morning.
"Maybe not directly, but Tidari has some sort of angle on these two women you guys brought in, and he's using it to the fullest, claiming it was police harassment and brutality."
With both hands on his hips, Steve stepped closer to Dewitt, his green eyes full of discontent.
"Brutality? What the hell is he talking about?"
"Like I said, he's released only bits and pieces of the actual interview, effectively skewing the content. It's not pretty, I can tell you that much just from what Conden told me about it. He wants that situation handled and a lid put on. And he's been asking questions about why you were with Mike when he questioned Wiersma."
"Aw, come on now Roy. What does that have to do with anything?!", rolling his eyes, the young Professor turned away and grunted in frustration, when Roy grasped his elbow firmly, causing him to settle his temper down, "I was assisting him just like we'd discussed earlier in the week. How is it everybody here is so worried about political correctness, while Mike is working himself ragged chasing down lead after lead trying to find this killer?! How many more cops need to die until Mike's experience, intuition and credibility are more important than some manmade propaganda spewed across town, hm?! Because for what it's worth, our killer is after him now. And she almost succeeded not too long ago. Now, you asked me to watch his back, but how am I supposed to do that if I am busy justifying every step of our investigation when I should be out there, focusing on searching through records?"
"Relax, baby, just relax, for gods sake.", Roy interrupted in his soothing, raspy voice and used both of his hands to massage Steve's shoulders for a second, hoping to ease the tense situation somewhat, "I feel the exact same way. And I wasn't particularly happy to hear about what went down at Mike's house earlier, believe me. That's something I haven't had the chance to discuss with Conden yet this morning…before this latest situation came up. Nobody is judging you or Mike or questioning both of your guys' credibility, for crying out loud. I am just letting you know that there's some pressure from above you need to be aware of. They might call Berkeley and ask questions and I don't want you to get blindsided. In the meantime, I will do anything in my power to give you and Mike free reign to get this case taken care of. If you need support, let me know, and I will make it happen within the boundaries bestowed upon me. If there's anything else you need, just…just say so, don't hesitate. No question asked from my side, you know that, Stephen. But just…see that you can wrap this mess up soon, before it gets out of hand any further than it already has."
