Kermit hopped back into the front seat and sighed. It had been a long day and he couldn't' wait
to end it. But there was just one more
thing he had to do before his trip home.
Three hours after she left the precinct Jody found herself in the place
she needed the most. She laid on the
familiar couch taking in the familiar smell and presents. Memories flooded in and out of her head as
she lay there in the dark apartment.
She felt herself fall into unconsciousness when she heard the sound of keys
in the door. Reaching to her hip she
realized she had forgotten her gun. She
didn't have to dwell on it for long.
The door slowly opened and Jody was temporarily blinded by the bright
light from the hallway. The blinding
got worse as the figure in the doorway reached over and flipped the lights on.
"Jesus Jody you scared the hell out of me!" Jody stood
up, letting herself stretch.
"Sorry Kermit but you scared me too. What are you doing here?"
Kermit closed the door.
"That's funny… I was about to ask you that." Kermit moved to a bookcase and grabbed
something off the shelve. "Well
Peter gave me a key and I just needed some time alone. And what better place..." Kermit turned
around to face her with an item in hand.
Jody noticed he wasn't wearing his trademark sunglasses. She took a good look at his eyes. They where bloodshot with bags weighing them
down. "Well, I'll leave you alone
to think then." Kermit started for
the door when Jody's words stopped him.
"Kermit... why are you here? What did you take?" Kermit turned toward her again and slipped
on his sunglasses. "Detective
Powell... is this an interrogation?"
Jody winced at his blunt anger.
"No Kermit... I just... I heard you were taking this hard is
all. Everyone wants to know your ok." Kermit lowered his head to watch his hands
fumble with the item he was holding.
"Everyone is taking this hard Jody. And tell everyone who is pretending to care that I'm fine. I only came here for this book. Not for 20 questions. Can I go now detective." The last sentence wasn't a question but a
statement and Jody felt herself wince again with every word he spoke. Kermit turned on his heels and started to
walk out. Again Jody caught his
attention but he didn't turn around.
"I miss him too Kermit.
Everyone does. Please don't shut
your self up." Kermit took in what
she said but continued to leave the room leaving Jody feeling more alone.
101st was almost dead when Jody walked up the stairs the next
morning. It wasn't normal and she
quickly went to someone for the answers.
Blake sat at his desk flipping through files. "Why is the place so dead today..." Blake glanced up
for just a second and returned his attention to the folders in front of
him. "Talk to Simms. She's in her office." Blake ended it there and proceeded with what
he was doing. Jody turned away and
headed for the captains office. She
passed by Kermit's office and peaked in silently. Kermit sat in is normal position. Feet propped on the desk with eyes glued to the monitor while his
hands flew over the keys. She decided
to disregard Kermit. He made it evident
that he wanted to be alone.
After knocking, Jody entered Simms office and shut the door
silently behind her. Captain Simms was
at her desk filling out reports and never once looked up. "Detective Powell… I was under the
impression that I wouldn't see you today." Jody sat in the same chair she resided in the day before and sighed. "Well I fully intended to take that
time off but I realized all I would be doing home is beating myself up. I need people around me but when I walked in
here this place turned out to be far from the company I needed."
Simms set her pen down and folded her arms. "Jody... I sent a few people home.
You missed the action. Kermit
talked to Caine last night." Jody
sat up straight. "Last night?? I
talked to Kermit last night. He didn't
say anything to me! Then again he didn't wanna be around me either." The captain started to swivel in her
chair. "Well that seems to be the
case with him lately. Well he told me
Caine has completed the ritual and says we can have the funeral now." Jody sighed again and closed her eyes. "Its not fair." Simms took a sip of her coffee. "I agree detective... But we can't change history. I would do anything
to bring Peter back. He was a damn good
cop and an all around good person. He
will be missed for a long time. But now
we have to move on." Jody nodded
and stood up. "Captain when and where is the funeral?" The captain picked up her pen and was getting
ready to dive back into her reports.
"Tomorrow at noon. Church
down the street. I forgot the name. Kermit knows." With out another word Jody walked out of the
office and shut the door.
Jody walked back to her desk but before she got there she made her
way over to Kermit's office. He was
still in the same position but was now on the phone. Jody didn't want to eves drop but couldn't help but overhear who
he was talking to.
"Yes Miss Mason. I
want this publicized.... No its just
close friends no one else......... I
understand the whole city wants to come but my main goal telling you this is so
you can spread the word... My reason?...I want the city to remember my
friend.....Yeah It may sound silly to you but.... well I think you owe it to Detective
Caine..... You do recall he saved your
life...... sorry...Be outside the church tomorrow?..... Alright thanks"
Kermit hung up the phone and turned around in his chair to come
face to face with Jody. Kermit stood up
and moved to grab his coat. "Can I
help you?" Jody didn't want to go
back to what happened last night but she could feel it coming. "Kermit don't be mad at me. We all need each other right now. You keep shutting us out and your going to
hurt yourself." After grabbing
his keys Kermit walked over to the doorway Jody was standing in. "I don't want to go back into
this. The only person I need right now
is Peter. Now will you excuse me."
Jody was getting angry at Kermit's melodrama and wasn't in the mood for
it either. "Where are you
going?" Kermit turned around and
she noticed he had a shocked look on his face.
"Tell me how that is any of your business." just then Skalaney walked over just in time
for on outburst. "Kermit your
acting like an asshole! All we wanna do
is try to make each other feel better and your pulling us down even
more!" At that point the whole
office had their eyes on them.
"Jody I suggest you get off my case before we say things we don't
mean!" Kermit turned and stormed
down the stairs and out the door.
"Well... He is really having a hard time isn't he." Jody looked at Skalany and sighed. "Yeah well he's being weird about this
whole thing. And he made a call.... ah
forget it. I gotta get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow. " Jody grabbed her things and stormed out,
following Kermit's lead.
Again Kermit found himself driving away from 101st feeling
hollow. He hated being so mean to
Jody. She was still hurting from
Peter's loss but he couldn't let his guard down… not yet.
Kermit drove for another 45 minutes before pulling into an old
farmhouse. Half of the windows were
broken yet protected with plastic covers.
The once bright white paint now was peeling and what was left of it had
turned a gray color.
Kermit walked up the old dirt walk way and up the weak wooden steps
to the rotted screen door. After
knocking lightly he was greeted by a familiar smiling face. "Kermit... you are... right on time...
as usual." The door opened and
Kermit stepped in. "Well Caine I
like to be punctual. Where's the
kid?"
Caine closed and locked the door tightly. "Kermit. I should
warn you before you go in to see my son.
He does not look... the same."
Kermit dropped his head for a few seconds to prepare himself and then
proceeded to take off his coat. "Believe
me Caine… I'm sure I've seen it before.
I can handle it." At that,
Caine pointed to a door in front of them and Kermit proceeded in.
He entered a room, dimly lit by unscented candles. Stepping forward he was taken aback by the
sight before him. He saw Peter's pale
and ghostly skin and had to hold back from making a sound of shock. He stepped closer taking in the sight. "Hey Pete... How ya feeling? Jeez this is rough...." Kermit sat in the chair that was placed next
to Peter's bed and stared at his closed eyes. "Pete we really need to
finish this. It's getting out of
control." Sighing, he lowered his
head to fit into the palms of his hands.
He could feel himself slip out of consciousness. Slowly he rested his head onto the extra
blanket covering his friend and fell asleep.
