"What do you mean, Bernie isn't sure?"

Drawing in a deep breath, Steve smiled, offsetting his partner's cantankerous spirit with his ever-present lightheartedness, hoping it would settle the Lieutenant's frayed nerves.

"Well, he's got nothing to go on. We're waiting on the dental records yet, there are a couple angles he wants to check out yet but it's not looking promising."

Mike grunted sourly and leaned back in his hospital bed, the nasal cannula carelessly shoved over to the side, the tubing of the IV attached to his inner elbow stretched as he crossed his arms over his chest in undisguised frustration.

"After all this time, this could just be another elaborate plot. Osorro wants us to believe he's dead. Could have been a straggler hiding out there, some homeless guy looking for a place to sleep. This isn't like you to just…buy into the easiest answer after that guy has mislead us so much."

Shrugging the outright insult off for the umpteenth time this morning, knowing that Mike's attitude had more to do with the current situation and his level of discomfort, forcing him to vent at the bearer of bad news; Steve smiled evenly and waited for a few brief moments, letting the silence do the talking.

Standing by the hospital bed of his best friend, who once again endangered and nearly sacrificed his life to save his, Steve felt the knot in his throat tighten, the guilt of escaping the blaze unscathed besides a mild concussion wearing on him more than he cared to admit.

Mike on the other hand had suffered burns on his upper back and left arm and hand, as well as severe irritation to his lungs from the toxic smoke that had filled the warehouse before they were rescued.

It left the Lieutenant in ICU for a day and at least another five days in the hospital for observation; each day wearing on both patient and nursing staff a little more, all the while sending a shudder through the entire homicide department at how close they had come to losing their leader to a manic arsonist.

"The body was discovered along the path Osorro took when he ran from you. It's just as possible that one of his…his booby traps went off too soon and took him out. None of our guys saw him leave the building."

"Yeah well, none of them saw him enter it either…", Mike countered with a headshake, grunting once again to underline his bitter attitude about the situation.

"Then how about the absence of the blue balloon? He used it for all the other cases."

The blue balloon.

It had been the ominous trademark of the arsonist, often tied to a parked car or street sign, waving in the breeze as the fire trucks rushed by, serving as an identifying trait for his criminal activities.

"He could do it on purpose, then attack again while we are cheering over his death. We can't let our guard down until we are absolutely sure."

"You have to admit, we didn't give Bernie a whole lot to go on. The height and weight fits, plus the lab crew found fibers from what could have been a ski mask near the body. But it was so…charred that it will be impossible to tell whether it was Osorro or not until we look at every angle on those dental records. Right now, they're all we've got to rely on and every source Bernie contacted didn't come back with a match. Personally, I take that as a good sign."

"Leave it to you to turn optimist at the strangest time there is…"

Letting his nervous fingers dance along the metal rail of the hospital bed, Steve glanced down, effectively running out of ideas to cheer up his partner at the eve of a case that had rattled the city for too long.

"Listen ehm…if there's anything you want me to bring from the house, just let me know…I can even try to sneak in some coffee…", he nudged, hoping to change the direction of their conversation for a little bit to settle Mike's temper, knowing that no frustration in the world would change the current situation.

When he glanced back up, the Lieutenant studied him intently, his eyes growing warm, as a faint smile spread on his lips.

"I am fine, thank you, Buddy Boy. I'll just be here for another day."

"Okay, well, if you can think of anything in the meantime, just call me in the office and-"

Their conversation was disrupted by a knock on the door frame, where a nurse waited patiently for them to turn around.

"Inspector Keller? An…Inspector Tanner is on the line. He said it's urgent."

"Alright, tell him I will be right there…"

As the fast steps of the nurse disappeared in the hallway once again, Mike raised his eyebrows, then pointed his chin at the door.

"Since when are you and Tanner working together? I am under the weather for a few days and you find someone else? Just like that? And who said you should be back at full duty anyway?"

"Olsen.", Steve replied with a mischievous grin, then leaned forward to tap his partner's leg, "He said that crime doesn't stop just because you're resting your old body for a few days. So, he partnered me with Bill for the time being. I was hoping to keep it a secret from you but apparently we have a stiff."

"Resting my old body…", Mike grunted and reached for his pillow, pretending to throw it at the young Inspector, "Don't get too used to Tanner. A couple more days and discipline and order will return to the department, mark my words."