Irritably Tannis snatched up the ringing telephone from Steve's desk. She was hot and tired and quite frankly ready to call it quits and go grab some lunch. Steve hadn't returned from the University and she'd heard nothing from him all morning. She knew he was uptight and running on empty, but they were supposed to be a team. She'd been about to call him on his cell when the office phone had rung. This had to be him, and boy was he gonna get a piece of her mind. 'Okay Sloan', she barked 'This had better be good'. The voice on the other end of the phone was suitably contrite, but it wasn't Steve, it was his father. Tannis groaned inwardly, her relationship with Mark Sloan was already pretty fragile, she certainly didn't need to add insult to injury by being rude to him over the phone. She knew Mark didn't bear grudges and he'd been nothing but pleasant with her, but she still felt a little awkward around him. Taking a deep breath she began to apologise 'I'm really sorry Mark' she tried to explain 'I thought it was Steve on the line'. In the Doctor's lounge at Community General Mark chuckled - obviously his son had been giving Sergeant Archer the run around. Mark liked Tannis a lot, despite their past history. He was pretty sure there was nothing going on between her and Steve, but was equally certain that he'd spotted a spark between them. Amanda, when he'd discussed his theory with her, had dismissed it as wishful thinking and accused him of being an old romantic.

He sighed, maybe he was - he certainly wanted to see his son settle down. In Steve's line of work relationships weren't easy. Although Steve never said much, Mark knew that more than one girl had ended their relationship because she couldn't handle Steve being a cop. With Tannis, Mark thought, there wouldn't be that problem. Still, he'd vowed long ago not to meddle in his son's romantic affairs and he certainly wasn't gonna start today. If Steve and Tannis were meant to get together they'd do so on their own without any help from him. He smiled ruefully; given Tannis' current tone, at present that particular coupling seemed most unlikely. 'So I guess Steve's not with you' he joked, hoping to reassure her that he wasn't at all offended by the way she had answered his call. 'You guess right' she replied with a sigh 'He took off to the University first thing this morning and I've heard nothing since'. Mark winced, his son wasn't usually such a loose cannon 'I'm sure he'll have a good explanation' he proffered in Steve's defence. 'He'd better' Tannis replied emphatically 'Well' Mark replied 'When you do finally catch up with him, can you tell him I rang and remind him I'm cooking dinner tonight'. 'Sure thing' she replied 'And how's about I try and get him to go home early too' she continued 'May be that way he'll be back to his old self tomorrow'. 'Well if you could, that'd be great honey' Mark answered appreciatively. He was still troubled by Steve's behaviour, but didn't want to give Tannis any more cause for concern. Thanking her he put down the phone and sank back in his chair. Steve was really going hard at it with this case he thought worriedly. Mark wasn't a cop, but keeping Tannis in the dark and going it alone didn't sound like the most rational of behaviour. He knew his son took his job extremely seriously. Mark got the distinct impression that until the killers were caught, Steve felt personally responsible for the victims whose lives were taken. Well, he pondered, as a doctor, he could certainly identify with that - losing a patient was always heart-rending, no matter how long you'd been in the job. But if you were to survive, you had to remain detached - do what you can, but accept that some things are beyond your control. He sighed, his son might seem tough on the outside, but Mark knew that deep down he was vulnerable. He wanted to talk things through, but he knew that wasn't Steve's way. Forcing himself to think more constructively, Mark's thoughts turned towards that evening's dinner. He determined to cook Steve's favourite, comforting himself with the thought that if he couldn't deal with Steve's emotional needs right now, he could at least tackle the physical ones.