'What the hell are you doing here?' Steve asked, his mind still trying to process this latest surprise.
'Now is that any way to greet a friend?' the man said 'What ever happened to hey Ron, great to see ya, how ya doin'?'
'Sorry' Steve said grimly 'It's been a rough night'
The tall FBI agent smiled ruefully as he stepped more fully into the room. 'So I heard' he said.
As Federal Agent Ron Wagnor came fully into his line of vision, Steve noticed the man's arm was slung casually around the slim shoulders of Amanda Bentley. They looked good together Steve thought, with a sudden and irrational twinge of jealously. Ron Wagnor was tall, good looking, dynamic and an excellent agent, clearly on his way to the top. He was also a good guy and obviously very much in love with Amanda.
Leaning into Ron, her arm wrapped around his waist, Amanda seemed to have an inner glow. Looking at her now, Steve realised she looked happier than she had in months. In all honesty, he had kinda forgotten about Ron, since the agent had returned to DC. Sure he knew that Ron and Amanda were trying to make a long distance relationship work, but he'd been so wrapped up in his own relationship with Tanis, that he hadn't really given it much thought. He realised now how tough things must have been for Amanda, yet he'd never once heard her complain.
Some time back he and Ron had worked closely together on a case and whilst it would be a stretch to call them friends, they had developed a mutual respect for each other. So why did seeing Ron now cause a strange spark of resentment to burn in his chest?
Ron was pristine in his usual FBI attire of shirt, jacket and tie. The clothes perfectly suited the younger man's long, lean frame. Steve himself had never mastered the art of feeling comfortable in a shirt and tie – jeans and sweatshirts were more his style. Stripped to the waist, groggy and on a hospital exam couch; Steve felt at a distinct disadvantage.
Ron was an excellent agent, if a little reckless at times, and they could sure use his help right now. Neither he nor Tanis had seen anything tonight, and he knew that the Chief would come down on them hard if they didn't turn this one around and fast. Still Steve couldn't help feeling bitter that Ron had come riding in to town ready to play the hero, to save the day. This was his case and he should be the one calling the shots, not some young hotshot down from DC. Confused at the strength of his feelings, he hastily clamped down on them, putting the strange reaction down to tiredness. Letting out a breath, he focused on Ron.
'So are you gonna tell me why you're here?' he asked a little roughly.
Ron shrugged. If he'd noticed Steve's hostility, he didn't let it show; instead he exuded his characteristic confidence. 'Well I wish I could tell you this was just a social call' he said exchanging an affectionate smile with Amanda, 'but as I guess you know, that was an explosive device that was detonated tonight'.
'I noticed' Steve said dryly. He looked at Ron raising an eyebrow quizzically 'What I still don't get is why you're here'.
Ron grinned 'You mean besides the excuse to see Amanda?' he asked.
Steve groaned irritably 'C'mon Ron, I'm not really in the mood to hear about your love life right now'.
Ron grinned and gave Amanda's shoulder a quick squeeze. Then he turned serious 'In a nut shell?' he said.
Steve nodded
'The government feels an explosion of that size, during this kind of extreme weather could be a potential terrorist attack' he explained 'and that makes this a federal case. Which means' he shrugged nonchalantly 'that I'm in charge of the investigation'.
'Hold on a minute Ron' Steve said his eyes flashing with irritation 'This is our case. My partner and I were on the scene when this whole deal went down and I can't see the Chief just rolling over and letting the Feds take over the action.' He struggled to push himself into a more upright position and winced as the movement tore at his side.
'Steve, just calm down will you' Jesse said reaching over to take the Detective's pulse. 'Remember you've lost a lot of blood tonight and you're Dad's not gonna be happy if you pop those stitches a half hour after they've been done'.
'Jesse I'm fine' Steve said, irritably swotting away Jesse's hand, unwilling to be placated.
'Look' Ron said easily, spreading his hands in a gesture of appeasement 'I'm not tryin' to ditch you guys, in fact I need your help'.
Steve grunted and Jesse and Amanda exchanged looks. Both knew he wasn't gonna be won over that easy. Relinquishing herself from Ron's grasp, Amanda moved forward and gently took Steve's hand. She looked at him with a tentative smile, her dark brown eyes sincere 'You know Steve, you guys are on the same team and I seem to remember that the last time you two worked together, everything turned out pretty well'.
'Yeah right' Jesse butted in, rolling his eyes 'Apart from the part where the whole hospital got blown up and you had to have an emergency tracheotomy and then Mark got kidnapped and …' he trailed off lamely as Amanda shot him a murderous look. 'But everything was okay in the end' he added hastily.
Ignoring the young doctor, Steve turned to Ron 'It's not that I don't think you're good at your job' he said tightly. 'And it's not that I didn't appreciate your help last time'. He paused and looked down at the examination coach before determinedly meeting the eyes of the FBI agent 'It's just that I think you're wasting your time. We've got this one covered'.
Steve knew that last statement wasn't true and yet for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to admit to Ron the absolute lack of current leads.
Ron frowned. He'd thought he and Steve had gotten past the traditional LAPD-Fed dog fight. Whilst he wasn't naive enough to believe the two of them could be friends, Amanda was right, they had worked well together in the past. Of course he hadn't expected Steve to be exactly happy to see him. The man had his pride, and no detective liked to hand over control of a case, especially when he'd been at the scene when the action went down. But he had expected a little leeway given his previous involvement. He had specifically requested to be put on this case, admittedly that had more to do with Amanda than anything else, but still he'd figured that if the Feds were gonna take over Steve's case, having a familiar face in charge would soften the blow.
Obviously he was wrong, but he was more than willing to cut Steve some slack. Not only was Steve a good cop, the guy had obviously been through a major ordeal tonight. Steve was his usual impenetrable self, but Ron couldn't fail to notice the other Detective's extreme pallor. Sloan was obviously hurt. Ron was no doctor, but the white bandage taped around Steve's abdomen and Travis' evident concern kinda gave it away. Ron was just surprised that Steve's old man wasn't hovering at the bedside. Amanda had told him that Mark was exhausted and was grabbing a quick nap in his office.
Ron sighed, wishing he could take a nap himself. He'd already been working a heavy case load before this one was dropped in his lap and the flight from DC had been pretty hairy, no chance of sleep there. Looking around this room it was pretty clear that sleep was something everyone was a little short on right now too. May be Steve would be more reasonable in the morning.
At the door to the examination room, Tanis had been observing unobtrusively for the last five minutes. She didn't feel guilty about spying, it came with the territory, was part of being a good cop. Over the years she had learnt the value of coolly sizing up a situation rather than charging right in. It allowed her to prepare, work out her strategy. Sometimes just taking a couple of minutes gave her an advantage over her opponent, whether that opponent was a homicidal maniac threatening her with a gun or her fellow officers discussing work politics over a beer.
From where she was standing, she could see Steve lying on the examination couch. Mark had obviously finished his treatment, as Steve was now sporting a white bandage around his waist and the old doctor was nowhere in sight. Steve didn't look happy. She'd seen that expression before and it usually meant he was being stubborn about something. Beside Steve she could see Jesse Travis, who seemed to be trying to get her partner to calm down. Dr. Amanda Bentley was on Steve's other side. Tanis' astute observational skills suggested to her that Bentley was playing the peacemaker in this little scenario, whilst the protagonist was the tall, serious-looking guy in the suit.
He was obviously a Fed, you could spot those guys a mile away, with their slick suits and arrogant charisma. She had no doubt that this man was the reason for Steve's discomfort. Obviously the Feds were already crawling all over the case, pushing the LAPD out in the cold. She smiled, this guy might think he was gonna throw his weight around, but it wasn't gonna happen this time, not after what she'd just found out. Silently she slipped into the room.
'I know how you feel' Ron was saying 'Hell I'd be pretty unhappy if someone tried to muscle in on my cases too, but you've gotta face it Steve, the FBI is running this show and there's nothing any of us can do to change that'.
Tapping the big agent on the shoulder Tanis smiled sweetly at him 'I hate to rain on your parade' she said, her smile anything but sincere 'But after what I've just found out, I think you'll be getting straight back on a plane to DC'.
The others looked at her in surprise and she shrugged 'I just got confirmation of the owner of 'Suzie's diner' she said 'and it's gonna blow this case apart'.
'And?' Steve said impatiently, struggling to get into a more upright position on the couch, despite Jesse's protestations to take it easy 'Who is it?'
She swallowed and gave him a look .
TO BE CONTINUED …..