June 2, 1940
It was easier than she expected, working with Nick again. Jen knew, of course, that she had to be professional and get through each day with Nick as a fellow detective on Homicide and ignore the way her heart clamored for him. But in the end, she didn't have to push aside her yearning the way she thought she would. It was easy. Working with Nick. It was just…easy.
Their being partnered together took a few weeks, but that was just the luck of the draw. Jen got paired with Matt or Simon usually. Nick was with Duncan a lot of the time, sometimes Matt. But the first case that came in that Wolfie assigned to Nick and Jen had made her nervous. Would they be able to focus just on the work and not let the personal get in the way? Would they be able to keep up the charade of not knowing each other? In the end, Jen's worries were unfounded.
"We got this, yeah?" she has asked Nick when they were in the elevator out on their first call together.
He looked over at her with that hint of a smile that always made her feel as though he could impart some of his calm confidence onto her. "Yeah," he answered simply.
They carried on as professional as anyone. The shorthand they'd developed being undercover all those months had returned. But Jen had the feeling that anyone would be able to have that easy, effective working relationship with Nick. He had that way about him. Jen wasn't surprised after that first case that Nick had already become her favorite partner, and she was eager for the rotation to bring them back together again.
In mid-May, Matt announced that he had taken and passed the sergeant's exam, and he'd be gone all of June for his training. Two months ago, Jen would have been heartbroken that her partner and best friend at Homicide was leaving and things would have to change. But now that Nick was back, it didn't sting as much. Ever since Matt had tried to ask her out, things had gotten a little awkward. Jen wasn't interested in him like that. Maybe she might have been if the timing had been different. He was a nice guy, and he was so very sweet to her from the beginning. But she'd been adjusting to the new job and nursing her grief over losing Nick. And now she was so focused on the job, she didn't want to jeopardize that for anything.
So Matt was gone, and there were four detectives on Homicide again. Duncan and Simon returned to their former partnership, and that left Jen with Nick.
"Sorry you're stuck with me," Nick teased, today being the first day without Matt and with the new assigned partnerships.
"I'm the one who should be sorry," Jen answered with a smirk of her own. "I'm not as experienced as the other detectives, as you know."
Nick shrugged. "Maybe so, but you're good. You've got the right instincts. And you're smart."
"That may be," she conceded. "I've had good teachers, I guess."
His eyes seemed to sparkle as he took in her words. But before he could answer, Wolfie came out of his office. "Buchanan and Mapplethorpe, you're up. Coroner's office driver got stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver."
"On it, boss," Jen said, getting up from her desk.
"I'll drive," Nick said.
He was the only detective that Jen ever worked with who sometimes let her drive. But he knew how she tended to get nervous going to a crime scene for the first time. Well, maybe not nervous. But Jennifer had developed a strange sort of anxious determination when she didn't know what a case was going to be. Getting the call out for a body was always a tough way to start the day. That was their job, though. That's how every Homicide case started.
"It's harder when its one of our own," Nick said quietly while they drove out to the crime scene.
"Yeah, of course," Jen answered just as quietly, staring out the window. He knew she didn't have the same experience with all this that he did, but he never made a show about giving her advice. This was his way of warning her that this case might be more difficult than usual and she should be prepared for that. And she would be.
Jen chanced a look over to her partner. Still felt strange to call him her partner again, and especially in this context. He was watching the road, not paying attention to what she was doing. He had that neutral, easy expression on his fact that she was used to seeing when Nick was just being Nick. It wasn't an expression that Wesley Claybourne ever had. It was nice to be out in the world with Nick and to see him as himself. To see him at work like this. He really was a great detective, and she was lucky to be his partner. For a whole lot of reasons, actually. Not the least of which was that he looked out for her without being condescending. Nick would never be like that.
He also looked very handsome with the light coming through the windshield like that, but Jennifer did not let herself really think about that for more than a brief second. They had a job to do.
July 20, 1940
"I've been doing this a long time, Jennifer. And I've never had a case before this where I didn't want to catch the killer."
He watched the shock in her eyes at her words. "That's the job, Nick. We bring killers to justice."
"Arresting that man isn't justice," he said coldly.
"And you aren't the one who gets to decide that," she snapped back at him.
They got back in the car, Jennifer in the driver's seat. A tension-filled silence filled the space as Jen drove them back to the station. Nick was glad, not for the first time, that Jen—unlike Matt, his partner before her—was the kind of person who let silence fall like this. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want to explain his feelings about this case. And he didn't want her to talk. He didn't want to hear her remind him again what their job was. He knew what the job was. And every single day but today, it made sense.
There was a street gang out there making trouble. Robbing people on the street at gunpoint and sometimes assaulting their victims to get what they wanted. And now there was a vigilante attacking the gang members. Three had been shot dead so far. Nick and Jen were closing in on the killer, and it was harder than hell for Nick to handle. A gang not unlike this one had killed a teenager almost ten years ago, and the man who pulled that trigger had just gotten out on parole. The father of the dead boy had started exacting his own kind of justice on the thugs like the ones who killed his son.
If Jen had pushed him, Nick wouldn't have been able to explain why this case got to him so bad. Maybe it was because Mr. Clegg reminded Nick of his Zayde. Maybe it was because Nick was getting to the age where a man usually starts to think of settling down and Mr. Clegg talking about all the dreams he had for his son resonated with vague longings Nick had about what kind of father he'd want to be someday. It didn't really make any sense, really. But the fact of the matter was that Paul Clegg was senselessly killed by street gang violence, and William Clegg was ridding the streets of that scum. And wasn't that a better outcome?
Jen was right, of course, that William Clegg had no right to be judge, jury, and executioner to anyone. And Nick, too, had no right to exonerate Clegg for his actions.
"How are you so sure?" he asked, his soft voice barely breaking the silence.
She glanced his way but looked back at the road in front of her. "Sure about what?" she asked.
"About what we do. About the job and what justice is," he explained.
"I don't know if I am. Not all the time. All I really know is that no one deserves a violent death on the street. And our job is to make sure someone is held accountable for it when it happens. Our job is never, ever to allow more violence to happen. So in this case, that's what makes me so sure," she answered.
Nick went quiet again after that. She was right. Everything Nick knew of Jennifer indicated that she was usually right about most things.
No sooner had they gotten back to the bullpen at the station than Matt, now their sergeant, ran out to tell them a squad car had radioed in about shots fired at the Dimetriou residence.
"Christos Dimetriou got released a day early on parole," Matt explained. "The Cleggs were informed by telegram as part of victim's rights."
"Son of a bitch," Nick muttered. He didn't even have to say another word. Jennifer was back in the elevator right next to him.
Jen drove them out to the Dimetriou house with the siren going. Traffic around them slid out of the way as they practically flew through the city. And when they got to the street, uniformed officers had already blocked everything off. Nick got out of the car before Jen even put it in park.
"William Clegg!" Nick shouted. Vaguely he heard Jennifer behind him, calling for him to slow down and to be careful. The blood was rushing in his ears. Nothing existed right now but Clegg.
"This man killed my boy!" Clegg cried. He was standing in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the Dimetrious' address with Christos Dimetriou on his knees, crying. Clegg had a gun to the man's head.
"Please!" a woman screamed. Mrs. Dimetriou, who just got her son back from prison, who might see him be executed on the street in front of the house where he was born.
Clegg whirled around to the front door where the family cowered in terror and let off a shot into the air. "Shut up!" he yelled. He had the gun back at Christos before anyone knew it.
"Don't do this, William," Nick said gravely. "This isn't the way."
"This man is a murderer. And they let him out. Murderers should be walking free. And if the system can't deal with him, I've got to." Clegg's voice cracked as he explained himself to Nick.
"No you don't," Nick contradicted. "You're hurting. I know you are. I know how it hurts when someone is taken from you. Believe me, I know. And Paul didn't deserve what happened to him. No one deserves that, but especially not Paul. You told me about him, how he was going to be the next great pitcher for the Yankees. And Paul never got to do that."
"This man should die for what he did!" Clegg sobbed.
"But not because of you, William," Nick pleaded. "There's been too much violence. Nothing good comes from adding more."
Clegg looked at Nick, who took that as a sign to walk a little closer. He was going to surrender. Nick could see his resolve weakening.
"Put the gun down, William," Nick said quietly. He was less than fifty feet away. If he could just get Clegg to put the gun down…
But then Clegg found his resolve again. "No!" he shouted, turning back to Christos.
A shot rang out. Clegg collapsed on the ground. Christos fell over as he scrambled away from the bleeding body and up the stairs to his mother's arms as they both sobbed with relief. Nick felt the slight burn of gunpowder on his hand. It was all over now.
Later that night, Nick was sitting quietly in the car with Jennifer again. She offered to drive him home, but they ended up just sitting there in front of his brownstone. He didn't get out of the car. She didn't prompt him to. So they just sat.
"You did the right thing, Nick," she eventually said. Her voice was gentle. Soft. Loving, if he let himself think such a thing.
"I killed a man today."
"But you saved another. Christos Dimetriou got to hug his mother because of you. You're a good cop, and you did the right thing."
Nick shook his head. "I didn't feel like a good cop today. I didn't want William Clegg to suffer anymore. I didn't want any more violence, like you said."
"Yeah," she said with a small nod. "That's how I know you're a good cop. And a good man. You saw someone hurting and you wanted to help. You did what you could."
He sighed sadly. "Yeah." Nick wasn't sure he agreed with her. Not yet, anyway.
Jennifer didn't say anything else. But she did reach out to where his hand rested on the bench seat of the car and laced her fingers with his, giving him a small squeeze.