"Hey Mike!"
The friendly knock on the door felt like a burst of fresh air to his mood and Mike glanced up from the report he was working on, surprised to find Fletcher Andrews standing there, a welcoming smile on his face.
"Fletcher! How about that! How are you my friend?"
The coincidence of Andrews being one of Jeremy Hendricks' old partners wasn't lost on the Lieutenant as he got up to shake hands with the Staff Sergeant, then ushered him inside before closing his office door.
"I am not used to seeing you up here in Homicide. Everything okay?"
Holding his peaked cap in one hand, and using the other to run through his crew cut silver hair, Fletcher nervously shifted back and forth, then shrugged.
"I just came off my shift. Thought I'd check to see how you are dealing with…you know…with things."
Mike didn't answer right away, and gestured toward his guest chair, waiting for Andrews to sit down before he cleared his throat.
"I am dealing, I guess. I think about Jeremy every day. I try to stay positive about things but the anger and frustration sneaks up on me at times. You?"
Accepting the honest answer with a faint nod, Fletcher bit his lip, an overwhelming sadness flooding his features.
"Every time I put on this uniform; I ask myself if today is my turn to get blown away by some trigger-happy imbecile. Everybody down in the squad room feels the exact same way. It's the worst morale I have seen since starting here. Everybody either blames the press, society or that Wilson law firm for the outcome. It's quite frightening actually."
Deciding to sit down on the corner of his desk right next to the Staff Sergeant, Mike kept his expression guarded, woefully aware of the importance being put onto his reaction and handling of the matter from the men downstairs; men who were out walking the beat tirelessly every day, just like he used to.
"Jeremy was a good cop. One of the best.", he said, putting the most emphasis possible on his words, "And what happened to him was wrong. There's no denying that. Mistakes were made and we may never truly find out what exactly happened at that jewelry store. But an unfortunate incident like that doesn't change the law. And the law states that everybody is innocent until proven guilty. None of us were able to prove Johnson's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and Gerry was forced to downgrade the charges, whether we like it or not. This is the very law we have all sworn to uphold and it doesn't change whether it's an innocent pedestrian getting killed or…or one of our own."
Mike swallowed hard when his voice began to tremble, his quivering bottom lip a subtle indication just how much the situation was wearing on him.
He could tell that Fletcher was studying his reaction intently, his senses cued on any expression of anger or vindictiveness, and yet finding none. Instead, Mike managed a sad smile, remembering Steve's heated argument the night prior, then reached forward to squeeze the other man's shoulder.
"Believe me, I have spent hours coming to terms with the loss, talking to Pam, imagining how I would feel in this situation. I have made myself sick wondering what would happen to my daughter if it had been me getting gunned down. But you see, we can't think like that. And we can't let the media and their police-hating agenda drive us apart, cause us to hold a grudge toward the very citizens we swore to protect. And we can't allow this case to stop us from doing our best out there. It's time we all take a deep breath and remember why we put on that badge every morning."