He had the file in his hands. He knew this was the last thing. If Bo and Nora agreed to put it away, that was it.

He knocked and waited for Bo to tell him to come in.

"Hey, boss" he said, "Welcome back. I hear congratulations are in order"

"For what?" Nora asked.

"Matthew's surgery?" he said, a little confused. He'd heard it was a success, had he been wrong?

"Oh, yeah" Nora said, "he walked yesterday"

"That's great" he said.

"How were things while I was gone"

"Mostly fine" he said, "one thing, um, Laurence tried to stab himself while I was interrogating him"

"What happened?" he asked.

"He said he didn't want to go back to jail, I turned my back to get the door and he had grabbed a letter opener and stabbed himself"

"That doesn't sound like Mitch" Nora said.

"Yeah, well, the guy's crazy, what do we know?" he said, taking note of Bo's face as he thumbed through the file.

"He is crazy" Nora agreed.

"Natalie saw the whole thing unfold?" Bo asked, looking right at him, his eyes off of the file for the first time since he'd handed it to him.

"Yeah" he said, and he didn't let his eyes waver, "She was the one at the door. She was real shaken by it, she was already upset-"

"Yeah, I can imagine" he said, "Did she give a statement?"

"I didn't want to make her go through it all again" he said, "If you want, I can get it to add to the file, but- "

"No, she doesn't need to deal with all that" he said, "Laurence?"

"Lived through surgery, there's a guard on him constantly"

Bo nodded, "Nora?"

"Yeah, I mean if the evidence is there, I say it's open and shut"

"Evidence is down stairs"

"Alright, I'll put it away" Nora said, taking the file.

As she went to open the door, she found Natalie about to open it on the other side.

"Oh, Natalie"

"I was, um, coming to see Uncle Bo and John to –" she stopped herself, "Um-"

"You okay, Natalie?" Bo asked, "John said you saw Mitch stab himself"

"We're going to make sure he goes away" Nora told her.

"For what?"

"Anything that sticks" Nora told her, "promise"

"Let me get you a cup of coffee" John said, and he guided her to his office.

For the second time in as many days, he was making her a cup of coffee. The normalcy in it was not lost on him. A few years ago, he had made her coffee almost daily. He knew she was hurting badly, but he had noticed over the last few days how little she had changed over the years. Even through the grief, she was simply Natalie.

"What are you doing here?"

She took the coffee, "I couldn't let you risk your job for me"

"It's done" he said, "Bo said we don't need your statement. Nora's going to file it. It's over"

"John, this is crazy"

He shook his head, "It's not crazy. You don't deserve to go down for trying to off him. And you know what, killing him shouldn't be a crime"

"Yeah, well, he usually escapes death anyway"

"Natalie he's going to pay for what he did to you"

She looked him in the eye, "I just really hope I don't get you in trouble"

"You won't, I got this" he said, "you just go home, try and have a good new year"

She shook her head "I hate the holidays"

"Yeah, they're hard" he said, "they do end, though"

"I guess"

"If you need anything-"

"I know" she said, "thanks for everything"

"You don't need to thank me"

"I hope you have a good new year"


It had been a hell of a New Year. Bo and Nora had apparently been having an affair, Bo had been fired because of it, thankfully he was fighting it as wrongful termination. On top of that, he'd gone to check in on Laurence this morning to find him chatting with Dorian. He'd brought Laurence back to lock up to find Natalie and Jessica pouncing on Nora in the squad room. No sooner had that been brought to an end than had Dorian shown up waving the real murder weapon in everyone's face.

He wasn't sure he was making it out of this one.

"This is the murder weapon used to stab Mitch Laurence, and it has John's finger prints all over it" Dorian declared.

"I don't know how that's possible since the weapon is in evidence" Bo countered.

"The victim himself said that John tried to stab him" Dorian added.

"He wouldn't do that" Natalie said.

"Stay out of it Natalie" John said.

"I will take the word of a decorated detective over a killer any day" Bo said

"when the detective in question has such a history of taking matters into his own hands?"

"John is an excellent cop" Natalie shouted,

"Natalie" he barked, "stay out of it"

"Dorian, do you have a forensics report on any of what you're saying?" Bo asked
"Not yet" she said, "but I do have one lined up, I'm going to get to that right now"

"John, she-" Natalie started to whisper.

"John" Bo barked.

"Yeah" he said, and followed Bo into his office.

Once the door had shut, Bo started in.

"Start talking" he said, and John already knew he might not make it out of this.

"Bo, I think the less you know the better"

"Did you stab him?"

"No" he said, "and if my prints are on that letter opener, they were planted there"

"Did he stab himself?"

"Bo-"

"What was Natalie's involvement?"

"Bo, she's already gunning for you, let me take the heat on this"

"what don't you want me to know?"

"I won't let Natalie get in any trouble, I swear"

"What about you?"

That was when Dorian stormed in.

"There you have it a full forensics report, John McBain's prints all over it"

"I'm not accepting it as evidence. We have the weapon"

"John McBain stabbed Mitch, you are doing nothing. This is why you cannot continue to serve in your current capacity"

"John didn't stab Mitch, I did" Natalie said as she stormed in.

"Natalie don't"

"Natalie, you don't need to cover for him, it's pretty clear it's his fault" Dorian said.

"No, he – he didn't have anything to do with it, it was me" Natalie said.

"Natalie, stop" John said.

"Bo, the fact that you are willing to cover up for John shows that you are not capable of running this department justly"

"You're right it was me" John said, "I will face the charges you see fit. Just leave Natalie and Bo out of it. I acted alone"

"John, you can't-"Natalie tried to interject

"I acted alone" he said, looking right at her.

"You know what, Dorian. You want my badge. Take it" he said, "If that's what it takes to make this insanity end"

Dorian was quiet for a moment, then said, "Very well, I accept your resignation"

She took his badge and left the office, leaving the weapon behind.

"Uncle Bo, you shouldn't have-"

"Natalie, can you give me and John a minute?"

She looked down, nodding and left the office.

"She did it" Bo said, and John knew he wasn't asking.

"Bo, it wouldn't have stuck"

"Dorian wanted me out, she would have found a way" he said, "You covered all your bases?"

John nodded, "Natalie- she doesn't deserve to go down for something like this. She wasn't thinking straight"

"Okay" he said, "I'm sure you know Dorian is not going to appoint you as my replacement, so you only got a little bit of time to figure out Dorian's angle"

"It's gotta be Laurence" he said, "he must have something on her. He's the only one that could have known about the letter opener"

"Speaking of-" he nodded at the letter opener, "make sure that stays hidden this time"

John pocketed it, "Definitely" he said.

"And John" he paused, "Natalie?"

He understood Bo's question completely. It had been long enough the two of them had worked together, he didn't need to say another thing.

"Her hands are clean" John said.

"You need any help keeping it that way-"

"I know, but, it's taken care of"

"We don't need you getting fired, too"

"You know" he answered simply.

The older man nodded. Another example of their unspoken language. Bo knew, things had changed throughout the years, but he knew there was nothing he wouldn't do for Natalie. It was one of the reasons he trusted John so completely. He was willing to go to jail rather than risk her freedom.

Bo nodded, "Alright. I gotta get out of here. If you need anything-"

"You'll be back soon"

His heart was thumping. He usually didn't have nerves standing in Bo's office, but this wasn't about him, it was about Natalie. Bo's face was unreadable.

"You took the fibers? Where did they go?" Bo asked Natalie.

"Threw them out" she said.

"Why?"

Natalie looked down, then looked to John. He nodded at her. He believed it was the right thing to do, even if it made him look bad in front of Bo.

"John had taken some meds and disappeared for a while. The fibers matched something he'd been wearing that day"

"You thought John had stabbed him"

Natalie nodded.

Bo took a beat. The tension in the room was palpable. He wished – he didn't know what he'd wish for to make this different.

"This is what's going to happen" Bo said, "I will be reporting this to the forensics department at LU. I will tell them you are leaving program willingly and we will keep it from any criminal counts"

"Uncle Bo-"

"Natalie, that's the best I can do"

"I won't be able to finish the program, and I have all the credits, I just need to take the test"

"I know" he said, "but I don't think you're going to win this in court, and then you'd go to jail"

"So it's over"

"I'm sorry Natalie" Bo said, "I know the secretary job was just meant to be temporary, but you can have it as long as you want it"

She nodded. He could see the heartbreak in her eyes.

"Natalie, would you give John and me a minute?"

"Guess I'm not really going to be in these conversations much anymore" she said, as she left.

Bo waited for the door to be closed before looking at his younger friend in the corner of his office.

"Why did you make her do that?"

"Bo, she tampered with evidence"

"You were the only one that noticed" he said.

"that doesn't-"

"John, there is more to this job than following the rules. You know that. You made the choice to rat her out"

"Bo, she tampered with evidence"

"She thought she was doing it for you" he said, "I would have done the same thing"

"No"

"I thought you wanted to marry her" he said, and was met with his friend's silence, "What do you think this is going to do to her? Your relationship? What do you think marriage is?"

"I don't understand where all this is coming from"

"She's not just my secretary"

"I know"

"I thought she was more than a secretary to you, too"

"Bo, you know she is"

"I'm just calling it like I see it" he said, "I hope you think long and hard about what Natalie means to you before you keep this up"

"What does that mean?"

"She put her life on hold for you. This is how you repay her?" he questioned, "You know all she's been through. I thought you were on her side"

John looked down. On some level, he agreed with Bo. Why had he made this choice?

"If you're not on her side – "

"I got it, Bo" he said, "it won't happen again. You're right. She didn't deserve it"