Jean was okay with it; Jim was confused. Considering her attitude towards both his job in general and his new position as a training office Jim had expected a fight over his needing to stay late to talk with Larry. Instead, she was sweet and understanding, even promising to keep his dinner warm. What was she up to?

They met at the "Ale and Wich". It was an Irish pub that Pete frequently took him to when Jim needed to talk. With its dark wood ceiling beams and high backed booths the bar presented a relaxing atmosphere. The "Ale and Wich" wasn't a place to get drunk, but it was a place for friends to pass the evening in quiet conversation. The fact that it wasn't a bar cops usually frequented was also an advantage; no one would be around to add their two cents in or to tease the rookie.

Ninety minutes and two beers later, Larry was actually willing to entertain the notion that he would still have a job even though he shot out a store window. Without mentioning names, Jim told him a few stories about rookies' goof-ups: accidently shooting out the floor of the squad car with a shotgun, puking on a murder victim's body, denting the car by hitting a gas pump and letting a stolen car get away because the rookie misread the license plate. Granted, Kasak's first two days would live on in station lore as the prime example of how not to do things, but Jim wisely kept that thought to himself.

The conversation had one point of contention; Larry kept asking Jim to use his influence with Pete to push for a favorable outcome. He didn't seem to want to accept Jim's argument that Pete wouldn't be swayed by an appeal on Larry's behalf. In actuality, the decision would be made by the captain, not Pete, and Jim wasn't sure what effect Pete might have on the captain's decision. Regardless, Jim would not use his friendship with Pete on Larry's behalf.

O~O~O

Jim turned onto his street, pulled over to the side and turned the car off. It didn't make sense. Jean said that she understood his need to stay late to talk things out with Larry, then why was he nervous about going home? Perhaps it was the fact that ever since Jim risked his life to save Pete during that narco raid, Jean could flip moods faster than a trout dangling on a hook. Some little comment and Jean would be giving him a hard time about his job; demanding that he quit or at least leave patrol. This last year had taken a toll on their marriage and Jim was getting tired of walking around on eggshells. Why would tonight be any different?

Delaying the inevitable could only make things worse, so Jim turned the car back on and drove to his house. The lights in the living room and kitchen were on; curiously, so was the light in Jimmy's room. It was well past his son's bedtime. Was he giving his mother trouble over going to sleep or was the boy sick?

"Daddy!" Jim barely got the front door open when Jimmy came running out of the kitchen, crashing into his father's knees. He fell back against the door frame before grabbing his son and lifting the boy into a bear hug. Jimmy smelled of baby shampoo and toothpaste; he was dressed in his favorite Superman footed pajamas.

"Hey Sport. Where's Mommy; did you sneak out of bed?" Jim looked for his wife as his son shook his head, indicating that he hadn't escaped his room.

"He didn't. We decided that he could stay up long enough for you to read him a bedtime story." Jean came to his side, giving Jim a kiss on the cheek. "Dinner is almost ready, so off with you both."

Jim muttered a soft "Thank you". He didn't understand, but he'd take it. A few minutes later Jim was deep into "Horton Hatches an Egg". He had tucked Jimmy into bed and given him his favorite stuffed toy; a floppy eared dog. By the time Jim got to the ending line, "An elephant's faithful one hundred percent", Jimmy was asleep. Jim turned off the light and stood in the doorway watching his sleeping son; the boy he almost lost overa month or so ago. He whispered a soft prayer for Pete, who had given the boy both the book and the floppy dog.

Jim's stomach was grumbling as he entered the kitchen. Jean was wearing a pair of black pants and a light blue sweater, both of which accentuated her figure. He loved her in that outfit and she knew it, which only confused him more. Why the change?

"That smells delicious. Can I help you with anything?" A quick glance around the kitchen let him see the table was already set, including two candles in the center.

"I've got this, but I wouldn't mind if you lit the candles and opened the wine." Jean smiled ever so sweetly as she handed him the corkscrew.

"Um...okay." While curious about why Jean was being so different, Jim wasn't willing to ask her for fear of incurring her wrath once again. He opened the wine and poured them both a glass before taking a seat and lighting the candles; Jean had even put the matches on the table.

"Please carve the meat while I bring over the other dishes." Jean set a carving knife down next to the roast beef. "Remember to cut across the grain." It was a gentle reminder, not a hint of the exasperation she had recently been showing when he cut the meat with the grain.

With their plates loaded down with roast beef, baked potatoes, green beans and gravy, the couple bowed their heads in prayer. Jean followed the "Amen" by raising her glass of wine; waiting for Jim to raise his.

"Here's to our love and to friends who cared enough to make me see what I was doing to it." Her eyes welled up with tears as they tapped their glasses together. When Jim started to say something, Jean put a finger to his lips to quiet him.

"I was destroying our love because of my fear for your life. It wasn't rational, but I didn't think anyone else understood my worries; I thought I was alone." She paused to take a drink of wine, but it was a moment to remember the speech she had practiced all afternoon.

"Today, unannounced, I had some visitors. They were the wives of your watch members and Sally…they even brought someone to take care of Jimmy for me. Each one told me how they kiss their husbands goodbye before each shift and how their stomach tightens knowing that they might never see him again." Jim reached out to rest his hand upon hers; a gesture of support.

"Some of them told me how they felt when their husbands had gotten hurt. They wanted them to quit too, but other wives talked to them. See, we married our husbands because of the men they are inside – the things that make them need to be policemen; the desire to keep others safe. I forgot that about you. It's not right for me to try and make you change who you are."

"I love you and I am sorry." She didn't try to stop the tears that now flowed down her cheeks as she leaned into a deep kiss. Jim was dumbstruck; it was over? "Eat before it gets cold. I'll tell you the rest as we eat."

"There's more?" As far as Jim was concerned, what Jean had already said was more than he had hoped for, so what was left? Pete? Jim moved closer to Jean, putting his arm around her while they ate slowly, enjoying the comfortable feeling both had missed.

"Sally yelled at me." Jean volunteered sheepishly. She paused to drink a little wine before continuing. "She said that for someone who didn't mean to hurt Pete, I sure did a lot of damage." Jim chose not to respond, because he couldn't refute Sally's accusation; he had seen Pete after Jean's visit. "She's wrong. I did mean to hurt him. After what I heard from Aggie, I saw your friendship with Pete as the one most likely factor in your death. It's the worst thing I've done in a long time. Pete didn't deserve any of it; not what I said about his late partner and not for the things I said over the last year that he didn't tell you about." Jean used a napkin to wipe her tears.

"Did you tell him that?" Jim hadn't talked to Pete today, even though he meant to go see him. Maybe he should have waited to see if Jean volunteered this information, but he needed to know how she intended to deal with his partner from now on. He did smile though, realizing that "partner" still meant Pete.

"We talked. I apologized. He forgave me."

O~O~O

Originally, Jim had intended to visit Pete before reporting to the station to work the day watch, however, he and Jean had kept themselves busy for several hours after their late dinner. Three hours into the watch Jim had managed to convince his partner for the day to take seven at the hospital. Jim took the opportunity to ditch Brady to talk to Pete.

"Remember Pete, this is a lower dose of morphine than you are used to, so if you are still in pain in half an hour, call me and I'll give you the supplemental dose." The nurse, an older woman with white hair finished giving Pete an injection, rubbing her hand along his forearm in an effort to speed the progress of the medication into Pete's system. She waved to Jim to let him know that it was alright to enter while leaving Pete with an admonition, "Take it easy, please."

"What did she mean by that?" Jim arched a brow, giving his friend a look over. Most people would assume that the morphine had temporarily relieved his pain, but Jim saw the signs that others might miss; Pete was still in pain.

"She meant nothing. Geesh Jim." Pete moved like a caged animal, running his right hand through his hair as he shifted in the bed. "What are you doing here?" Pete knew the odds of getting Jim sidetracked that easily were slim, but you play the cards you are dealt.

"What, a friend can't come in to say hello?" Jim stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed; he wouldn't be deterred that easily. "You fight pain meds like Jimmy fights a bath, so what gives?"

Pete let out a deep sigh. Gone were the days when a stern glare was all he needed to put his younger partner in his place. Jim had become immune to it, most times, but it still scared the hell out of the rookies. "In the last hour, I've had physical therapy and an exam to evaluate the progress on my shoulder."

"In other words, you are in pain." Jim's voice held a mixture of emotions; satisfaction at getting Pete to almost admit to something he was trying to hide and worry that Pete was trying to hide it.

"Is that a surprise to you?" Pete nodded towards the door. "Where's your partner? You didn't leave that rookie alone, did you?"

"Um…you mean nobody told you what happened?" Could it be that no one from the station had rushed to tell Pete the story? The whole division was laughing about it. Oh no, Pete was laughing.

"I think there was a race to see who could tell me first." Pete was laughing so hard that he wrapped his right arm around his stomach. It was the only sign that Pete felt some pain from laughing. "Wells was probably here before the detectives got to the scene."

"That figures. He couldn't stop laughing; both at Mr. May's tantrum and Larry's embarrassment." Jim started pacing; a sure sign that he was frustrated. "It was a stupid mistake and Wells kept taunting Larry saying "bye, bye kid". Jim spun on his toe so that he was facing Pete. "I spent an hour and a half at the bar trying to convince Larry that he wouldn't be fired over this. He's scared Pete."

"You took him to the "Ale and Wich"? Over the years, Pete and Jim had spent time in more than a few bars, but there was only one they went to for heart to heart talks. Apparently, Jim was going to continue the tradition; Pete's own training officer, now Captain Moore, had taken him there to talk things over after a bad shift. He had taken Andy there too.

"Where else would I take him?" Jim flashed a grin and spread his hands a little to the side; a gesture that acknowledged Pete's assumption as being correct.

"How's the kid doing?" Pete was still laughing, only toning it down a bit. "I mean, his first two days are one for the history books."

"I'm glad you find this so funny. IAD had us there for hours. Then we had to go back to Mays' Grocery and hear from him again." Jim raised his hand; pointing his index finger at himself. "You made me responsible for that kid, now look where I am!"

"Welcome to the joys of being a training officer." Jim wasn't about to let Pete off the hook.

"You did this. You gave me a rookie you knew would drive me crazy, didn't you?" Jim should have expected the end result; Pete laughed harder. "He even flirts with women, too."

"All rookies drive their TOs crazy. It comes with the job, along with hand-holding, babysitting, evaluating them, defending them in front of the rest of the station and keeping them alive." The look in Pete's eyes said it all; he was remembering fondly all the screw-ups Jim made. "It's the hardest job on patrol, but it's also the best one."

"He's afraid the captain is going to violate his probation. He's really scared Pete."

"I'm assuming that you told him it wasn't going to happen, because that kid has job security …at least until he reimburses the department for the cost of the window." This time Jim laughed right along with Pete. It felt good; he was now realizing how funny his two days with Larry Kasak had been.

"Ah…he kept asking me to talk to you; hoping that you would use your influence with the captain." Jim really didn't want to bring this up, but he felt an obligation to let Pete know there might be talk if things went bad for Larry.

"Are you asking me to intervene in the process? If so, I think you both over estimate any leverage I might have with the skipper." This time, Jim did react to Pete's glare, taking a step back.

"Of course not, but I thought you needed to know that if Larry gets the boot, he might bring you up as being part of the decision to fire him." Jim had grabbed the bed railing and Pete couldn't help but notice the slight shaking of the railing.

"I'm sure that my name will come up. That happens every time a rookie gets punished; it's good for my reputation as a tyrant." Pete paused long enough to pour himself some water; taking a few gulps to help relieve a dry throat. "I'm not sure if the captain will even ask my opinion on the shooting. I'm stuck in here and didn't see what happened."

"Yes he will, if he doesn't fire him outright. Look, I'm not asking you to try to get him off light, but I'd like to know what you think the captain will do so I can prepare the kid." Pete knew that feeling. It was why he spoke to Moore about the dent Jim put in the car.

"My guess is that the captain will have him come in for a few extra shifts without pay. Suspending him would be counter-productive; he needs the training more than sitting home doing nothing." Jim let out a sigh, suddenly realizing that he was holding his breath.

"Thanks Pete. Jean told me that she talked to you. Is everything okay?

"Everything is fine. Jean and I worked it out, I got engaged last night and they are operating on my shoulder the day after tomorrow. Happy now?" Pete flashed Jim a mischievous grin; had Jim noticed.

"Why are they operating again? I thought your shoulder was doing okay. Did you make it worse by moving around?" It wasn't lost on Pete that Jim was talking to him the same way that he talks to Jimmy when he is in trouble.

"They were always going to have to operate again. It's the only way I'll have a chance of getting back full range of motion in the arm."

"Hey Reed, let's get going. Seven's over." Brady stuck his head in the door and pointed to his watch. "Hi Pete."

"Okay, okay. I want to hear more about this operation when I see you again." Jim was almost out the door when it hit him. "What was that other thing you said?"

"Go! Brady is waiting."