There is something which lurks in the minds of many humans that sees something wrong and wants to 'fix it.' According to popular relationship expert, John Gray, this is particularly true of males. This is, of course, an overgeneralization and humans are far more complex than to be categorized in such terms; however, it was true of Adrian Monk.

Adrian Monk had spent his entire life noticing everything that was wrong with his world and consequently had a desire to fix everything. Therefore, it should have come as no surprise to anyone when Monk arranged for the entire group to meet with his long-time therapist, Dr. Neven Bell, in order to try to resolve their issues and fix what was wrong in their relationships.


It took the coordination of six very different schedules, really five since Monk and Natalie generally had the same schedule and were pretty much inseparable, in order to arrange for the three couples to meet together with the psychiatrist. But soon, they had an appointment scheduled for one o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, June 13th, 2012. Monk wanted the 10th, however that was a Sunday and Dr. Bell refused to come into the office, even for Monk. And, so he settled for the week of the tenth and made sure that he and Natalie were there early.

At twelve forty-five, they walked through the door. Monk and Natalie were already bickering the minute their feet hit the threshold.

"We're late. I told you we were going to be late." He whined, much to Natalie's consternation.

"We are not late, Adrian." She replied. "We are fifteen minutes early. I told you we were going to be fashionably early, not obnoxiously early."

"What does that even mean?" he asked. "Late is late. Early is early. What does being late or early have to do with fashion?"

Natalie's heart swelled with pride and affection when she saw her boyfriend's reaction as they walked into the office and discovered the Stottlemeyers were already there. She understood that this had to be T.K.'s doing, and silently blessed the other woman for knowing how important it was to Adrian that all of their friendships get back on track quickly. It mattered to her as well, of course, but she had to admit that she was a little gun-shy about opening up the fresh wounds of things said in anger. She wasn't sure that they could easily be taken back or forgiven.

In a bit of role reversal, Adrian was more optimistic. He had hope that one session would do the trick and she wondered, where had her cautious, risk-averse man gone? Her question was answered within seconds of their arrival.

"Hello, Leland. T.K." he greeted them with a pat on the arm and a barely touching 'bro-hug' for each.

Stottlemeyer and T.K. stood and returned the greeting, hugging both Adrian and Natalie before retaking their seats. Natalie motioned with her head for Adrian to come sit down, but he merely rolled his neck and stood with both of his hands clasped in front of his stomach. He had been the one to arrange the meeting and the last thing he wanted to do was to tick Leland off before they even got started. But it just wasn't right, and he knew he wouldn't rest until it got fixed.

When he wasn't responding to her nod for him to follow, Natalie walked over to Monk and took him by the crook of his arm.

"Come on, honey. Let's go sit down. Dr. Bell will be with us soon." She suggested.

He resisted her, saying under his breath. "It's not right."

Knowing him as she did, it didn't take but a few seconds for her to realize what his complaint was about. "It's fine, honey. They're new here. It's just for this session. I'll explain it to them later."

Leland looked up at Monk. "Is there something wrong?" and Monk got the fake plastered on smile he would often get when he was trying to be evasive.

"Oh…fine…things are…fine…" he said, stiffly turning on his heels and following Natalie towards another set of chairs. He took three steps before returning.

"Um…Leland, T.K. Here's the thing…" he explained, as Natalie put one hand over her face. "Um…that chair…the one that T.K. is in…well, that's the one I always sit in when I'm waiting for Dr. Bell. Every time I come here. Granted, I don't come here as often as I used to, but it's…it's still my seat."

Leland leaned forward and slapped the magazine in his hand down on the table and T.K. placed a calming hand on his shoulder as a reminder for him to control his temper. "Monk, I understand where you are coming from; however, there are other chairs out here that are exactly the same as the one my wife is sitting in. Pick one of those." he said calmly.

"But, Leland, here's the thing. There are rules about that sort of thing." Monk replied.

"Rules? What rules?!" Leland responded, his voice raising a bit in volume. T.K. leaned forward and whispered something into his ear to which he responded "I'm fine."

"Adrian." Natalie said, taking Monk again by the arm. "We can sit over here. Think of it as a new adventure."

"I don't like…adventure." Adrian replied.

"Leland honey, it's really not that big of a deal. I'll just move." T.K. suggested.

"No. Trudy. You're not moving." He responded. "Monk. We got here first. There are rules about that too. You'll just have to suck it up and deal with it."

Monk stiffened causing Natalie to put her arm around his back as she attempted to lead him away. "Sharona put you up to this, didn't she?"

"What?" Leland asked, as he picked up his magazine again. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Come on, honey. Let's just sit down." Natalie replied, tugging on her boyfriend who was by now immovable.

"Sharona put you up to telling me to 'suck it up.' It's her revenge for the elephant." He answered.

Leland just rolled his eyes.

"Leland, I really don't mind moving." T.K. said softly to which Monk responded with a thank you. At least she was polite and considerate.

Leland barely looked at Monk over the top of the magazine. There was an article about the Lakers he had been in the middle of and Monk had broken his concentration. "Yes, Monk, she is very nice and very considerate and that is one of the reasons I married her. But she still isn't moving. We got here first and we are perfectly comfortable. Last time I checked no one had assigned seats in the waiting room."

"Look under the chair." Monk replied raising his chin up in the air.

"Look und…what?" an increasingly irritated Stottlemeyer answered.

"Under the chair. Look. You'll see it. You'll see I'm right." He replied.

Leland heaved a frustrated sigh and tossed the magazine back onto the table once again as T.K. stood up out of curiosity, allowing her husband to look underneath the chair. There, underneath the chair, was a rectangular sticker that spelled out plain as day ADRIAN MONK'S SEAT (NOT HAROLD KRENSHAW'S).

Monk stood with an indignant look on his face as Leland looked incredulously up at him from his knees on the floor.

"So, see, Leland. I was right. If something is labeled as one's own, it doesn't matter who was there first. The chair belongs to me." Monk replied.

"Monk, Harold Krenshaw doesn't even come here anymore!" Leland barked.

Adrian looked at Leland unconcerned with that basic fact. "He could come back."

Leland looked over at Natalie and raised his eyebrows and he shrugged.

"He's right. He could." She responded.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Monk said with a smile on his face.

Leland took a couple of steps to the right and picked up another chair then switched out that chair for 'Monk's' seat.

"There you go, Monk. You want your seat. You've got it. T.K. is not moving and neither am I."

Adrian sat his chair down in the middle of the floor in frustration while Natalie turned him around, whispering a few words into his ear that caused him to shrug his shoulders before ultimately turning around.

"Fine, Leland. Have it your way. Natalie tells me that you are guests here and therefore it is unfair of me to assume that you all will know all the rules, so just for this session...you may sit in our place." He noted as he and Natalie took his chair to the spot where the other chair had been vacated and sat down.

After around thirty seconds silence, Monk asked. "You did tell them to be here by one, right?"

"What?" Leland asked.

"Randy and Sharona. You did tell them one o'clock, right?" he asked. "Dr. Bell and I always start our sessions at one o'clock on the dot and they end right at two. It will ruin the rest of the day if they are late."

"I told him one o'clock and he'll be here at one." Stottlemeyer replied.

Another minute passed and Monk couldn't handle the strain,. "Leland, are you absolutely sure that you told them -?"

Leland's clinched jaw said whatever his response would be was going to be a doozy, however Natalie and T.K. were thankful when that response was interrupted by the arrival of Randy and Sharona Disher.

"Sorry, Adrian," Sharona apologized almost as soon as she saw him. "We know how you are about keeping time for your appointments. We would have been here ten minutes ago had Randy parked in the parking spot I told him was available, but he never listens to me and we had to drive around two more times."

"We weren't late!" Randy protested, helping himself to a cup of coffee from a machine on the credenza in Dr. Bell's office. Sharona crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him impatiently, muttering something unkind to say the least under her breath and finally making her own cup of coffee. "It's twelve fifty-eight. We've still got two minutes." He added.

"One minute," Adrian corrected him. "It's twelve fifty-nine. Natalie and I got here early enough to take into account time for parking and Leland and T.K. did the same. You should have listened to Sharona."

Randy rolled his eyes. "We're here, Monk, and we're on time. Everything is exactly on schedule. It's fine. The commander left me about ten messages and said he would personally take me out back and shoot me if I wasn't here on time."

Adrian checked his watch for the last time because the clock on the wall had just hit one o'clock, and before he could even open his mouth to say anything, Dr. Neven Bell opened the door to his office and made a motion for the six of them to come inside. "Excellent, everyone is here. Right at one o'clock on the dot. I would say that bodes well for a successful session, don't you think, Adrian?"


As the group filed into Dr. Bell's office, Leland assumed Monk would predictably be as particular about the seating arrangement inside the office as he was in the waiting room. His assumption turned out to be right. After Dr. Bell took what Leland presumed was his usual seat, Monk kept looking towards one seat that was undoubtedly the one he was used to sitting it, but it was the five other people in the room that were giving him trouble. While Leland tapped his foot, waiting for Monk to make up his mind, he observed his old friend looking back and forth from the circle of chairs to his girlfriend and his two friends and their wives, going as far as to mark out a little grid pattern with his hands. Finally, Leland could take it no longer.

"Oh, for Pete's sake, Monk, it's a circle, it's completely even." He barked. "That's why you had Julie buy you that pancake cutter! Sit in your seat, Natalie can sit by you, and we'll go from there! It's not that hard, buddy."

Monk narrowed his eyes at Leland and scowled, nodding to Dr. Bell who was already sitting quietly with his notepad and an uncapped pen in hand, and motioned for Natalie to come forward and sit next to him. Natalie did as directed, looking back pleadingly at Sharona for help. Sharona immediately understood and pushed Randy forward into the circle, motioning for him to sit to the right of Dr. Bell. Sharona would be between her husband and Adrian, and Natalie was of course on Adrian's other side. Leland sat next to Natalie and T.K. sat next to her husband and beside Dr. Bell. Monk wrinkled his nose and scrunched his face. No, this wouldn't do. Leland and Natalie were sitting next to each other. That might spell disaster.

Randy drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. "Are we all sitting where we're supposed to be, Monk? The commander said you were funny about stuff like this."

Monk opened his mouth in protest, but before he could say a word, Leland was out of his chair and pushing Monk down into his chair from where he had already half-stood up.

"Randy, shut up and stop antagonizing him," Leland growled, sitting back down. "Monk, we are all fine and happy sitting where we are. Sit. It's all right. It doesn't have to be perfect, unless you want to waste the hour we have playing musical chairs. Is that what you want?"

Monk looked up at Leland and then at the chairs. In spite of it not being even in terms of the men and the women, he'd have to risk it or else Leland was more than likely going to walk and then they would get nothing accomplished.

"No." he grumbled. "I guess it's as good as it can be…I guess." Monk replied.

"Fine. Now everyone shut up and let Dr. Bell talk so we can get out of here on time. T.K.'s got a meeting she has to be at at four." Stottlemeyer said, retaking his seat.

T.K. glanced at her husband questioningly, snapping to attention when he gently elbowed her in the ribs. "Meeting. Yes, right, with one of my editors," she added, unconvincingly. Leland sighed in frustration. He thought being married to a cop would have taught her how to be a better liar, at the very least.

Dr. Bell didn't say anything but continued to write things in his notebook. Randy finally leaned in closer to Sharona. "Does he always do that? Just sit there and watch and take notes?"

Sharona frowned. "Randy, you're being rude," she hissed. "And yes, that is what therapists do. You know that, you've been in therapy before."

Everyone turned to look at Randy who then looked suddenly self-conscious.

"From the station," he stammered. "It's departmental policy, cops always have to be cleared by a shrink to go back to work after they shoot someone in the line of duty. Tell them, Commander."

Leland nodded, though Randy looked no less convinced that they believed him. "What is Dr. Bell even taking notes for? He knows who we are." He asked.

"Preliminary notations to see how the six of you interact when you are together and how specific pairings relate to one another," Dr. Bell admitted. "I find it's helpful when I'm consulting with a larger group of friends such as this. You'd be surprised at what you can uncover about relationship dynamics that way." He capped his pen and closed his notebook. "But, before we start talking, I would be remiss not to mention to you, Commander Stottlemeyer, how grateful I am to see you up and around and recovering as well as you are. Adrian was quite worried about you the two weeks you were in the hospital. I have the phone bill to prove it."

Leland actually smiled.

"Thank you," he said gruffly. "And you can call me Leland. None of that Commander stuff in here."

Dr. Bell raised an interested eyebrow. "But Randy just called you Commander in casual conversation. It seemed natural for him and you didn't seem surprised to hear it."

Leland opened his mouth and closed it again. "I don't - ask him to do it when we're outside of the station, if that's what you're getting at. It's natural for us. Probably for the same reason I call Monk, Monk, and not by his first name. It's just...police stuff."

"Oh, but your relationship with Adrian is much different than your relationship with Randy, I believe. Isn't it?" Dr. Bell asked.

Leland looked over at Monk and then at Randy, who simply folded his arms and raised one eyebrow since in his mind Dr. Bell had stated the obvious.

Stottlemeyer shifted in his seat a little bit. "I rely on both men in their own way. Neither one of them is unimportant in my work."

Bell looked knowingly at Leland. "But, that isn't what I asked you, Leland. I asked you about the character of your relationship with Adrian versus the character of your relationship with Randy. They appear to be considerably different. For instance, I noticed how you spoke to Randy and to Adrian about the seating arrangements and how they both obeyed you. You're used to giving orders and having people follow them, and through the years the three of you have sort of fallen into those roles. You are each comfortable, to a degree, working within those parameters. Feel free to correct me if anything I'm saying is out of bounds."

The three men looked at one another and grinned.

"Yes. I suppose that is right." Leland said.

"Nailed it." Randy confirmed.

Dr. Bell then narrowed his eyes and looked directly at Leland. "I thought so. So, I guess what I'm wondering is how it made you feel when you gave Adrian and Natalie direct orders about what they were and weren't permitted to do in relation to Julie's investigation only to see them knowingly and purposefully disobey your orders."

Leland took in a deep breath. "You don't mess around, do you, Dr. Bell?"

Dr. Bell shrugged. "I see no reason to beat around the bush, particularly given your time constraints. After all, you did note that your wife has a meeting with her editor at four."

The remaining five looked at Leland as he uncomfortably shifted in his chair, and T.K. put a sympathetic hand on his knee. All of them knew that Leland had a contentious relationship with the idea of therapy, and T.K. and Monk both knew how Leland's wariness about therapy had a lot to do with Karen and the downfall of his first marriage.

Dr. Bell stared unblinkingly at Leland Stottlemeyer. "It's perfectly fine if you don't want to be here, that doesn't offend me."

Leland only nodded in response.

"But, while I do have you here," Dr. Bell continued. "I would at least like to help each of you see why things devolved as quickly as they did into…what was it you called it, Adrian? A catastrophe? A cesspool of animosity?"

Monk gave a slightly embarrassed nod, and Natalie put a reassuring hand on his back.

"You see, Leland. I brought up your relationships with Adrian and Randy for a reason. From hearing Adrian talk through the years, I think you see Randy as almost a son, or in the very least, the heir you want to groom to one day take your role. You trust him, even though he doesn't always do things the way you would like and his thinking pattern is not in alignment with your own. And, he looks up to you. He is not, however, your equal.

With Adrian, the relationship is a bit more complicated. For one, you have known each other for so many years and have been through so much together. You're best friends." Bell chuckled. "In fact, in terms of the people that have walked in and out of my life, I would say that your relationship with each other is one of the great bromances of all time."

Leland and Adrian were both nodding until he used the term bromance. At that point, Leland's face morphed into a grimace and Monk began to look exceedingly nervous at the line of questioning the Dr. Bell was beginning to take. He rolled his shoulder and spoke up.

"Um…no…Dr. Bell…I…I..I..I – I th-think y-you have may-maybe m-misunderstood something here…" Monk stammered. "L-Leland and I…we..we're just f-friends. H-he has T.K. and I have my Natalie. There's been n-no r-r romance be-between the t-two of us at all."

Leland raised one eyebrow and exhaled. "Nope. Not even on my radar."

"Mine neither." Adrian replied quickly, vigorously shaking his head no.

Dr. Bell chuckled. "Not ROMANCE, gentlemen. BROMANCE. Let me explain. A bromance is usually a very tightly knit relationship between two men in which there is a sharing of confidences and emotional intimacy that goes beyond that which is hetero-normative. It is a homo-social construct that is perfectly platonic.

Adrian, from what I have heard from you in the past, you came to really confide and depend upon Leland in many significant ways. You looked to him for approval at times, just to make sure that you were staying on track.

And, Leland, I believe that you appreciated being looked up to in that manner. But, your relationship is such that there is a real mutual love and respect for one another. You've given him leeway where you wouldn't have for other people."

"That's because the guy is never wrong." Leland said.

"That's true. Adrian's insight concerning details is amazing." Bell agreed. "But there's more than that. You do things for him that you would never do for another living soul."

"Like when you helped him fake his death." Randy said. "And hid it from us."

"That was awful." Sharona reflected.

"Or when you let him throw your stag party." Natalie offered. "I hear that was a really wild ride."

Adrian blushed.

"Or when you asked him to be your best man at our wedding." T.K. noted as Leland took her hand, then looked at Monk, and then Bell with a grin.

"Precisely." Bell affirmed. "Exactly those sorts of things. It really is a beautiful example of a bromance."

Leland and Adrian looked one another in the eyes and paused a moment. Then, both immediately dropped their eyes, simultaneously shaking their heads.

"Nope. Never even occurred to me." Leland replied.

"Not at all." Monk agreed.

Dr. Bell rolled his eyes as all three women and Randy bit their lips to avoid snickering at the two men.

"All right. Fine. Perhaps bromance isn't the right terminology. How about this…you two are like two brothers." Bell suggested.

At this, Monk and Stottlemeyer looked at one another again and smiled, then returned their gazes to Bell and gave a quick nod. Bell knew he had struck a chord, so he continued. "And, as the older brother, Leland, you have felt both protective of Adrian and proud of him, even while sometimes he got on your last nerve. Precisely like a brother. Whereas Adrian, you've looked up to Leland and depended upon him, even while you continued to grow yourself. And, as one looks at the trajectory your lives have followed, it would have been very easy for Leland to become bitter and jealous towards you since through your sheer intellect, you have ended up outshining them all in terms of your accomplishments; but, if there is any of that around, it is minimal and if you have any sense of superiority over the others, I've never seen it. Because, you're just that close. You are in every sense, but biological, brothers. Would you agree with that?"

Leland nodded. "Yes. I believe that is a good assessment, doc."

"Me too." Monk affirmed.

"I thought so. Which is one reason why I think things went south in this most recent episode. You see, Adrian, Leland has enjoyed being the person you have gone to when you needed help or guidance, and I believe, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, that perhaps Leland began to feel hurt since you've distanced yourself from him and replaced him with Natalie. Would you agree, Leland?"

Leland pondered what Bell said for a long moment before responding. Finally, he replied. "I think maybe, part of that is true. It does hurt to be looked at as the enemy, when you've been so close through the years."

"Leland, I…" Monk interrupted.

"Adrian. Let him finish." Bell gently rebuked.

Leland looked back up. "It was just frustrating. So damn frustrating, to think I was doing the best I could at the time…and yes Ms. Teeger, I know you're going to say I wasn't…"

Bell looked over at Natalie whose jaw tightened slightly. "Leland, let's let Natalie speak for herself as well. "

Stottlemeyer nodded. "Well, that's all I was going to say. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I wished things were different. But I understand that he has her now and I'm actually quite happy for them both, even though they probably don't think that."

"That's very good, Leland. A very good start." Bell replied. "For someone who doesn't want to be in therapy, you did well."

"I had to talk you into it," T.K. muttered under her breath. Dr. Bell turned the page in his notebook, and when Leland glanced at his wife in surprise, she patted his knee but didn't apologize. She hesitantly spoke when Dr. Bell looked at her. "I just - thought it would be a good idea for us to all get in a room together and work all of this out once and for all. Julie is free and safe and that's wonderful, but that's just the first part in moving past everything we've been through. Isn't it?"

"The first step is to get everything out in the open. Say anything that needs to be said, no matter what it is, even if it hurts. Because once you identify the problem or what is still causing the tension in these friendships you can start to move past the problem," Dr. Bell advised. "The first step and the biggest step is acknowledging that there is a situation that needs to be fixed, and by coming here today all six of you are in agreement that your relationships are important enough that you want them to thrive and be how they were before Julie's arrest. So, let's move on. Let's talk about the situation that developed as a result of that arrest. Who wants to start?"