Sergeant Joe Getraer sat at his desk, trying to have a relaxing day. Not exactly something common for a police job. However Poncherello and Baricza were both gone for the day, he'd at least be spared two headaches. Or so he thought.
It was seven o'clock, he knew they should have been to the court house by now. He tried to keep himself from worrying, there were so many other things to think about. But he had a sick feeling in his gut that this wasn't going to be a good day.
oOoOo
Bear woke up, to the feeling of a cool breeze blowing through his hair. He looked around, confused. As soon as his eyes opened he found he wasn't inside his cruiser. He was laying in a patch of grass. His cruiser crushed and upside down nearby.
He looked around, seeing they were still in the middle of nowhere, now sitting in an embankment on the side of the road. "Oh no...no, no no..." he looked around. "No...I fell asleep. Getraer is going to kill me!" he cried, looking at the heap of twisted metal. He laid back, trying to relax. "How did I even get out here anyway?" he asked himself. Then it hit him, Ponch was with him...but where was Ponch? "Ponch!?" he called, looking around. "Ponch!?" he slowly got to his feet, feeling dizzy. "Ponch?" Bear felt tears sting his eyes. "I killed him..." he said, without having any evidence to prove it. He fell back down onto the grass. "I killed him..."
On the other side of the cruiser, Ponch laid in the grass. He hadn't heard Bear calling for him, because he was just waking up himself. Bear had fallen asleep at the wheel, which resulted in this outcome. Ponch had woken up seconds before the crash, but couldn't do anything to stop it. He opened Bear's door and pushed him out of the car when he woke up the first time. He unbuckled Bear, Bear was awake at that time. He helped get him out, then Bear didn't say anything after that. Ponch assumed he was taking some time to relax.
It took a lot of work and energy to get out of the cruiser. He wasn't sure about Bear's injuries, but was relieved to know he was at least alive. Ponch took a deep breath. "Joe's going to kill us..." he muttered. Ponch's head was killing him, and he wanted to go home. He looked at his watch, it was seven. That meant it had been a few hours. That also meant they were late for court. Ponch had remembered waking up about an hour ago, but he hadn't done much. He moved, but was in pain. His head was killing him. "Why does the sun have to be so bright?" he turned his head.
After laying still for another couple minutes, he decided he needed to get up. He sat up, just that small movement felt like too much work. "Barry?"
On the other side of the car, Bear continued to cry. "I can't believe I killed him..." he heard his name being called from the other side of the car. "Ponch, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill you! Please...stop talking to me..."
Ponch shook his head, not sure he understood what Bear meant by that. "Hey, man...I told you not to fall asleep, but you're going to have to try harder if you wanted to kill me." he forced a laugh.
Bear wiped at his eyes. "But-" he started. He stood slowly, limping over to the other side of the car. A small smile reached his lips. "I didn't kill you," he said relieved, as he collapsed beside his friend.
"Nah, you killed the cruiser though. Getraer might kill us."
Bear sighed.
oOoOo
Joe finished briefing, and was on his way back to his office. He heard the phone ringing, and sighed. "Sergeant Getraer," he said answering the phone. He frowned, listening to a complaint claiming Baricza and Poncherello hadn't shown up to court that morning. "They what?" Joe frowned, listening to the same thing repeated again. He hung up, and sighed. "Is it too much to ask, to have one day without Poncherello getting into trouble?" he talked to himself, already deciding this was Ponch's fault. He could trust Bear though, right? Bear would fix whatever happened...wouldn't he?
That sick feeling started to return. As much of a troublemaker Ponch was...as much as he hated going to court; Joe knew that Ponch would never Not show up. He'd never force Bear to not show up either. As much as he wanted to believe it was just one wrong turn or something, he knew it couldn't have been. Someone had to find them now.