May 3rd

Jordan shook her head "He made bail. Are you kidding me?" She asked "We had him dead to rights. What kind of moron would grant a serial killer bail?"

"Judge Calvin Gracen." Captain Ryan said. "That man has been a thorn in our side for ten years. If he can find a way to let someone loose he does."

Cavenaugh shook his head "Bellamy is going to come after you, Jordan. You pushed his buttons hard. It got him to screw up and admit things, but it also pissed him the hell off."

"He's right." Greg Matthews said. "I'll make sure there are extra patrols around your place."

"I'll be fine," Jordan said.

"I know they train 'em hardcore and cocky over in Bayview," Ryan said. "But we don't take chances with our detectives' lives around here. We lay it on the line enough as it is."

Jordan sighed "Fine… fine. I'll behave."

"We should put a tail on Bellamy too while we're at it." Michael Gray said. "I have no doubt he'll come after Jordan, but if we keep him from that target he'll find another. He has no choice. Serial killers can't not kill. His kills were coming faster and more violently. He's escalating."

"Then we give him what he wants," Jordan said. "If he's caught in the act of trying to kill a cop there is no judge alive that would let him out on bail a second time."

"You realize that if you dangle yourself out there as bait he just might succeed," Ryan said.

"I came up through vice, remember. Prostitutes are serial killers fast food. I've always been bait."

"Fair enough. Let's make it happen." Ryan said, "Without letting the guy take her down."

Peter adjusted his pack nervously as his father used the knocker at the temple gates. He knew it was foolish. His father was right. The priests and monks within would not seek to harm him. At worst they would reject him because of what he carried inside him. Still there he stood, waiting for the gates to open, trembling inside.

This was where he would find out how much he had lost. How much had been taken from him? Who was right? Miranda Gray or Kwai Chang Caine? He could face this. He would face this. He would do his best not to embarrass his father no matter what came but he wasn't holding out hope for it to be good news even if they didn't reject him outright.

He drew in a sharp breath as the gate opened, and then gave an apologetic look to his father.

"I am Kwai Chang Caine, and this is my son, Peter." He said, letting the brands on his forearms show. "We seek sanctuary, and to confer with the priests here."

"You are welcome." The priest said stepping aside to let the men enter the temple grounds.

Caine felt the tension leave his body as they were led through the grounds to the temple itself. He smiled seeing the young boys being taught Kung Fu. It reminded him of when Peter was that age when his fears were the natural fears of a young boy. He remembered those days with great fondness. He wished that his son could share in that joy.

It broke his heart to see his son with that haunted look in his eyes. The expectation of rejection, fear, and sorrow that emanated from him like a wave of heat. Kwai Chang could only hope that it would one day be resolved and his son could find peace in this life.

Master Hsiao bowed his head to Caine and gave a warm smile to Peter, although he too noticed the apprehension. "Shall we have tea?" He asked. "And you can tell me what brings you here. Master Lau tells me you have come to seek sanctuary."

Caine bowed his head. "Yes, tea would be nice." He said. "We shall discuss other things when we have settled."

"Yes. Of course, I am sure you wish to clean up. We have a room that you can use while here and there is a shower of course."

"Thank you," Caine said.

Peter felt the gaze of the priests on him as they followed Master Hsiao through the temple to their rooms. His mouth was dry and he felt his blood chill with adrenaline. He wanted to bolt, to leave this place and never look back. Instead, he looked down and followed his father dutifully. He stood mutely to the side and stared at the floor as his father thanked the priest for their room. He would get no answers if he ran.

"I will see you shortly in the garden." Master Hsiao said and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Peter flinched as it latched, waiting to hear the sound of a lock engaging.

"You are safe here, my son," Caine said worriedly.

"It doesn't feel safe." He said honestly. "I can feel Nag squirming. If I can feel it, you don't think the rest of him knows where we are do you?"

"I do not know," Caine said honestly. "We will speak of this to the priests and put protections in place."

Peter looked uncomfortable but simply nodded. He was going to have to trust his father's judgment despite Miranda's words echoing in his ears. Tainted. Unworthy.

Half an hour later they had cleaned up and changed into clean clothing. Caine asked one of the monks for directions to the gardens where Master Hsiao was waiting near a koi pond. The man smiled serenely and indicated that they should be seated.

"Now, what has brought you to us, Master Caine," Hsiao asked. The man's reputation had preceded him. "I have to admit that I am surprised to find that your son is alive. We had all heard that he had died when your temple was destroyed by Tan."

Peter looked up then. Was that why they had been staring at him? "I ahm… almost did. Smoke inhalation put me in the hospital for a few days." It was how they had managed to convince him that his father was dead and buried. He'd have never believed it if he had been able to leave the hospital. He would have wanted to see the body to say his goodbyes. "One of the priests told each of us the other was dead to protect us from Tan."

Hsiao nodded. "A regrettable necessity I am sure." He said. "It is good that you have been reunited. I sense that you are uncomfortable among us." The young man was respectful and reserved, but it did not mask the apprehension he felt. It filled the air around the young man.

"It's not you," Peter said. "Trust me it's all me. I don't know where to begin to explain it all. I'm afraid that when I do you'll toss me out on my ear. Probably ought to anyway."

"Peter…" Caine said and sighed.

Hsiao looked between father and son, then turned his attention fully to Peter. "Start from the beginning. We are not here to judge. Surely you remember this from your youth in the temple."

"I don't really remember much from the temple. Not actively anyway." Peter said quietly. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked at the fish swimming in the Koi pond and started his story from the moment he and his father had parted company that cold January day, then ended with father and son leaving Bayview. Not once did he look away from the fish until the priest spoke.

"And what in this have you done to make you think we should cast you out of our temple?" Hsiao asked gently. "You have been through a great deal. You have been forced from your path. It is wise to return to the beginning to find it once more and your beginning was in the temple."

Peter looked up then in surprise. "But I have part of the serpent's spirit in me… an enemy to the Shaolin."

"He is our enemy. You are not." Hsiao said serenely, his voice smooth and very nearly hypnotic, reminding Peter of the Tulku in 'The Shadow'.

One of the students approached with the tea service to set before them. He looked to be about 10, and nearly exploding with unasked questions. Peter smiled then, now that he remembered from his childhood. So many questions, so few answers, and always the adults smiling in indulgent amusement. He thanked the boy and hoped that his smile was not as annoying as all adult smiles had been when he'd been that age.

"What do I do now?" Peter asked after the child had left. "How do I keep them from… taking over."

"That will depend on your path." Master Hsiao said.

Paul opened the passenger side door of his car and offered his hand to Captain Karen Simms.

Karen took his hand and let him help her from the car, even if she didn't need it. She had known Paul Blaisdell for nearly 20 years. She knew he was intelligent and a gifted investigator and up until two days ago, she had known he was sane. Now she wasn't so sure. But she had promised to hear him out and to play along for the time being so that was what she was going to do.

He escorted her into Gastronomique, a four-star French restaurant on the upper east side of town. It was public, and not the sort of place you took a woman who wasn't your wife if you didn't want it all over town before you finished the salad course. But that was exactly what Paul wanted. If they thought he was involved with Simms, who was more than capable of taking care of herself, then they wouldn't likely put any effort into trying to find his wife and daughters. At least that was what he hoped.

When they reached their table, he pulled her chair out for her and pushed it in before going to take his oeat. It was awkward, to say the least. They made casual conversation, and he rested his hand over hers while they waited for the waiter to come to take their order. He could feel eyes on him. He might only be a captain but he was well known among the more affluent members of Bayview society. It made him uncomfortable, but it also meant that his scheme would work. Miranda would likely know before they were done eating.

"I need you to explain all of this to me again. I like to think that I'm an intelligent woman and fairly open-minded but what you expect me to believe is well frankly unbelievable."

"If I hadn't lived through it, or more appropriately put if Peter hadn't lived through it, I would believe it either. The world is a little surreal when you live on the edges of Chinatown."

"I understand there are cultural differences but mystic cults and political conspiracies?"

"I understand, believe me, I do." He said and took a deep breath. "My son, technically foster son, is part Chinese. He actually spent the first 12 years of his life in a Shaolin temple with his birth father. This temple was destroyed and Peter and his father were each told the other was dead and Peter was placed in an orphanage. Pine Ridge."

"Pine Ridge is horrible. That place needs to be shut down or at the very least given an overhaul."

"Some of the stories Peter told of that place, it was worse 15 years ago. He has said that place scared the hell out of him and Peter isn't afraid of anything, even when he should be. If you don't count heights that is."

"How did you wind up fostering him?" She asked.

He laughed quietly. "I would occasionally go to the orphanage to give lectures on law enforcement. The commissioner at the time had read a study that said that kids in orphanages or the foster care system were more likely to become criminals than the average kid and wanted to take a firm stance and make sure these kids knew that a life of crime wasn't going to be tolerated or what have you. He was an ass." Paul said.

Karen laughed "He actually thought that you could waggle your finger at any child and make them do anything other than laugh at you?"

"I figured I could either go and as you say, waggle my finger sternly and accomplish nothing, or I could go and attempt to lure them into law enforcement instead. I encountered Peter in the halls at the orphanage, which had its own school, probably the worst part of that place is there was no getting away from it. Anyway, I asked if he was interested in law enforcement and he pretty much told me to bug off. But he came to the lecture anyway because it got him out of math class." He smiled at the memory.

"And you kept going back to talk to him in specific?"

He nodded. "There was something about that kid. I just knew that if I walked away he'd be lost. Peter is bright and strong-willed in just the right mix … or the worst mix depending on what he's up to at the time. If he had been left in that place he'd probably be running the underworld rather than being one the best detectives I have ever seen and that is not just a proud father talking. His record backs me up. Unfortunately, like most brilliant detectives he forgets things like his own safety and rules."

"I know the type." She said.

"You were the type," Paul said with a smile.

"I outgrew it once I had my son." She said.

"Anyway, Annie and I decided that we wanted to add him to our family. We would have adopted him but he didn't want to change his name and really that was the only practical difference between an adopted son, and a foster son. Sometimes he forgets that he's family. I blame Pine Ridge. They like to pound it into those children's heads that they aren't escaping they are just being warehoused elsewhere."

"Again, that place needs to be done away with." She said. "So how did his birth father come back into the picture."

"By accident. Kwai Chang Caine is… a bit of an enigma, and larger than life. Peter had seen him pulling an old man, the one they call the Ancient, from a fire, and saw the brands on his forearms that all the Shaolin priests he knew growing up had. So he went to the hospital to talk to him. He says that he went to find out of the man had known his father so that maybe he could learn more about it. When he gets there lo and behold it was his father. Let me tell you the following year was difficult. Peter came out of Pine Ridge angry. He was a good kid and he is a good man, but he has anger issues and abandonment issues, both of which his father brought to the surface just by existing. They have become very close. I am glad that he has his father in his life. I just wish that didn't include all the mysticism and near-death experiences."

"Did all of this change your relationship with your son?"

"Oh yes. We're actually closer now. Caine has always made a point of referring to me as Peter's father as well, which helped. Peter always felt that calling me Dad was betraying his father's memory, even though he calls Annie Mom. I don't share Caine's philosophies, but I respect him a great deal. The only downside of his being back in Peter's life is that it in some ways has created this war inside him. How Annie and I raised him is very different from how his father raised him and understandably, even though frustratingly, Caine tries to reawaken those teachings. Sometimes that leaves Peter conflicted."

"Pacifism vs being a cop." She suggested.

"There is no conflict over Peter being a police officer. I think he's actually proud of him for his life choices. He sees us as helping and protecting people which falls within his mandate as a Shaolin priest." Paul said "But what is also in that belief system is that there is always another option to killing. He doesn't understand that sometimes, for a cop, there isn't another option. Peter feels that disapproval and out comes the anger and feelings that he'll never measure up to his father's expectations."

"That has to be difficult." She said.

"It is. Caine ends up reassuring him of course but it's a massive learning curve between them"

"And this is who he is traveling with currently, to escape this snake cult."

Paul nodded. "I don't claim to believe that there are any mystic powers belonging to anyone, least of all this cult. However, that doesn't mean that they don't believe there are mystical powers and destinies or any other fringe type beliefs."

"Well, that is reassuring at least." She said with a smile. They leaned in close to one another, speaking in hushed tones, keeping the illusion of lovers.

"The problem comes in that this cult truly does believe in those things and they believe that Peter has some sort of destiny that they have to thwart. They are widespread and have people in powerful positions."

"Why kidnap him rather than kill him?"

"Part of their delusion is that as he is the last of the bloodline currently they have to keep him prisoner otherwise that dubious honor falls on another. They believe this prophecy has a time limit and all they have to do is keep Peter from fulfilling it and there will somehow no longer be any Shaolin priests."

"That is completely insane." She said.

"I agree. But this is why he has to stay out of their sight until I can find a way to bring them to justice. Unfortunately, even if I had the evidence to back up his statement I could only bring in maybe three people."

"And the cult would just sprout another leader and still go after him for the rest of his life." She said, shaking her head. "This is a mess."

They stopped talking when the waiter brought their food and wine.

"Yes, it is." He said after the waiter walked away. "And the worst part is the woman who hurt my son was just elected mayor."

"And wants you to be the commissioner to keep you from investigating."

"Or recognizing if one of her cult infiltrates the 101st."