Steve's heart jumped into his throat and his mouth went dry. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears and he tried to swallow. As the familiar blue eyes bored into him, he could see everything he had worked for all his life, and everything he now held dear, evaporate in a puff of smoke. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

Then, very slowly, the corners of Mike's lips began to curl and his knit brows softened. "I know I needed a new car," he began quietly, almost to himself, "but I was really hoping to trade the old one in…" His smile getting a little wider, he stared at the confused young man with raised, expectant eyebrows.

Frowning, Steve started to shake his head slowly. "What…?" The single word came out almost in a whisper.

The smile now genuine, and unquestionably filled with love, Mike said gently, "Roy told me about everything that's happened in the last 24 hours…" He paused briefly and grimaced with a facial shrug. "Well, as much as he knows, I guess… he was a little skimpy on the details…" His face crumpled briefly and his voice caught in his throat. "How are you doing?" he asked softly, unable to keep the worry out of his voice.

Pulling himself back together, his heart still pounding, Steve dropped his eyes briefly and shook his head. "Oh my god," he said quietly through a half-hearted chuckle, "for a second there…" He looked back up at his partner and shrugged almost helplessly.

Mike laughed softly. "Don't you know by now that there's nothing that could happen that I would blame you for…?" he asked quietly, continuing to stare, pride and love in his eyes. "Especially something you had no control over." He smiled warmly. "Sudbina."

Steve smiled and chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I know… fate."

Tilting his head, Mike winked. "And sometimes it's a bitch."

The younger man frowned comically. "I thought that was karma," he mused lightly.

Mike shrugged as best he could. "Same ballpark."

They both laughed quietly, sharing the magic of the moment. Then Mike's smile faded slightly. "You didn't answer my question. How are you doing?"

Steve stared at him and swallowed, trying to find his voice, almost overwhelmed with the love he felt for this man who had given his life such stability. "I'm, ah, I'm doing okay. The ribs are starting to heal, I think," he assured, unconsciously wrapping his right arm across his chest. "Everything aches… and I still have a headache but that's to be expected, I guess." He nodded towards the older man with his chin, his brow furrowed with worry. "How are you?"

Mike's right hand had made its way towards his shoulder again. He tried to chuckle, subduing a wince. "Not bad, I guess… I agree with you about the everything aches part, especially my neck…" He carefully moved his head from side to side. "But from what Roy told me, I guess we're both lucky to be, eventually, walking away from everything…"

Their eyes met and held, both of them silently acknowledging not only their good fortune but the bond they knew that nothing would ever tear apart.

It was Steve who addressed the elephant in the room. He leaned forward slightly, shifting uneasily. "Mike, ah…Lonsdale…"

"Don't worry about him," the older man answered firmly. "We got him once, we can get him again. We will get him again… and you did nothing wrong…" He stared at his young partner without blinking for several long seconds. "You know that, right?"

Steve shrugged, looking away. "Yeah, I guess…"

"No guesses," Mike said firmly, still staring at the younger man. "You did the only thing you could do, so don't start second guessing yourself. Besides, I've been lying here thinking about what we can do… and I have an idea. But I've got to get back home first. I can't do it from here." He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head with a frustrated sigh.

Steve's eyebrows drew together but he didn't say a word.

Mike's smile was inscrutable. He closed his eyes and let his head sink back into the pillow, suddenly looking very tired. He heard a rustling and felt a hand on his leg and a gentle squeeze. He smiled.

"Did they say when you could get out?" Steve asked softly.

Keeping his eyes closed, Mike shook his head. "They probably want to keep me for a couple of days. What about you?"

There was a soft, almost sad snort. "Tomorrow morning. But I don't want to go home without –"

Mike's eyes snapped open and he raised his head slightly, wincing and catching his breath. "I want you to go home," he said quickly, then caught himself and slowed down. "Steve, I know Bob and Phil are using what resources they have down here to try to track down Lonsdale's parents, but I think we need to do it too. And that's something I think you can do from home… from your home… right?" He knew what the younger man was thinking. "I'm not giving this up, Steve." He glanced down at his bandaged left shoulder. "I'm not gonna let this stop me from bringing Brigitte Larson's killer to justice. Are you?"

Steve stared at his partner, unblinking, a lump forming in the back of his throat. He knew what Mike was doing, he knew Mike was tossing him a lifeline, a way of making up for what the young man perceived was his blunder the previous day.

"So… you'll go home?" Mike asked with a smile.

Chuckling, his partner nodded and smiled. "Yeah… yeah, I'll go home." He stared at the man in the bed.

# # # # #

A candy striper pushed the door open for him and he entered backwards, a small cardboard box with two paper coffee cups and two napkin-wrapped donuts in his right hand. The bed was still raised; Mike's head was back and his eyes were closed. He crossed quietly to the bed table and put the box down, trying not to make any noise. He picked up one of the coffee cups and set it on the table near the bed then, awkwardly with one hand, pried the lid off the second one and sat down.

He was halfway through his coffee and had finished his donut before Mike stirred then opened his eyes. He inhaled deeply and smiled. "That smells good," he said quietly then lifted his head slightly.

"It tastes good too," Steve chuckled, standing and putting his own cup on the table before handing Mike the other one.

The older man frowned, nodding towards the cardboard box. "Didn't it hurt, carrying all that?"

Steve chuckled softly. "Well, it's not too bad if I keep my upper arm plastered to my side… and grit my teeth…"

Chuckling, Mike nodded gratefully before he took a sip, moaned in pleasure, then let his head fall back onto the pillow. "Oh, I needed that," he sighed, smiling. He turned his head slightly and looked at his partner. "You okay?"

Steve bobbled his head. "Not bad, not great… you know…"

"Oh yeah… I think I'm almost due for another shot of that pain medication." He shrugged as best he could, trying not to wince, then took another sip of coffee. "Where's that donut?" he asked with a chuckle.

Standing, Steve took the coffee and replaced it with the napkin and pastry. Mike took a bite, raising his eyebrows in gratitude and pleasure as he chewed. Laughing, Steve sat back down.

"Good choice, thanks," Mike chuckled after he swallowed. His brow furrowed. "Ah, listen, ah, I was thinking while you were gone –"

"I thought I could smell something when I got back…" Steve said under his breath and Mike paused, shooting him a long-suffering glare. He cleared his throat and continued dryly.

"Anyway, I want to run something by you. You can tell me it's hare-brained but… well, just hear me out and tell me what you think, okay?"

Steve was looking at his partner with skeptical amusement and he made the older man wait several seconds before he nodded. "Okay, shoot."

"Good," Mike said with a grin, popping the last of the donut into his mouth and reaching for the coffee on the table. Keeping the cup in his hand, he laid his head back against the pillow again and grimaced, squeezing his eyes closed. The medication was definitely wearing off and he knew it was almost an hour until he would get another dose.

Steve was watching him closely. "You know you can ask for another shot, right?"

"I know," Mike said quietly, "but I don't want to get used to it, you know…" He took a couple of deep, slow breaths, exhaling through his mouth, then opened his eyes again. Steve was looking at him with a worried frown.

Mike smiled softly. "How are you feeling?"

Steve shrugged slightly. "I'm getting a little sore but I'm okay."

"No no," the other man insisted, "this can wait. You should go back to your room and lie down, get some rest…"

"Mike," Steve raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, "I'm okay right now, believe me. Besides, you think I could leave now without hearing your big idea?" He smiled mischievously and the older man's worried glare turned into a smirk.

"All right, smarty, you want to hear my 'big idea', do you?"

"Yes, I do."

With a chuckle, Mike took a sip of coffee, let Steve put the cup back on the table and dropped his right hand onto his stomach. "Okay, well, I was thinking about what you said Lonsdale told the bartender that first night you spotted him. He said he'd gone 'up north' to see his folks, right?"

Steve nodded. "Right, that's what he said."

"Well, it might be a longshot but… well, Lonsdale's house isn't too far from the bar, right? And he doesn't seem, as far as we know right now, to have a job that he has to drive anywhere to, right?" Mike started to sound hesitant and unsure.

"Right," Steve encouraged.

"Well, like I said it's a longshot but, well, they have Lonsdale's car, right? And I'm pretty sure the LAPD will tow it to a compound while all this is going on, right? So… well, what if he only uses that car to, I don't know, go back and forth to the bar, and maybe run a few errands around town, but mostly he has it for going 'up north' to visit his parents."

"Right," Steve repeated, drawing the word out a little, starting to recognize the direction Mike's hypothesis was going.

"Well, what if we have Evans and Garabaldi see if they can find out the last time Lonsdale had his car serviced… or the oil changed… I mean, they always take note of the mileage when they do something like that, right? And if we're lucky and he's had his oil changed, or something like that, in the past couple of weeks or so, then we can find out what the mileage was then and then –"

"We can compare it to what's on the car now and figure out approximately how many miles he drove when he went 'up north' to see his parents…" Steve finished for him with an almost triumphant smile.

Mike was nodding, mirroring the look.

"Sonuvabitch..." Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "And you thought of that just now, while I was out getting the coffee?"

With a closed-mouth smile, Mike nodded. "Well, I didn't think of it while I was sedated, if that's what you mean?" He laughed then grabbed his chest with a low moan, clenching his teeth and sinking back into the bed.

Steve sat forward, laying a hand on his partner's leg. "You okay?"

Mike nodded but didn't open his eyes. The smile had disappeared.

"Ah, listen," Steve said with more lightness in his voice than he felt as he got to his feet, "I'm gonna get out of here and let you rest. But, ah, wow…" Mike opened his eyes. "I'll see if I can call Bob and Phil and run your idea past them, see what they think." He stood over the bed, smiling warmly. "I'm glad you're okay," he said softly and, after a beat, Mike nodded slowly.

"Me too."

Steve turned and walked slowly to the door. As he opened it, trying not to wince from the effort, he looked back at the bed. "I'm gonna ask them if they've got Lonsdale's credit card too – they probably do already but I want to see if there are any gas charges for a trip 'up north' as well as any work done on his car recently. He's, ah, he's probably smart enough to pay for gas in cash, but he probably puts repairs and that kinda stuff on his card." He shrugged with a smirk. "They may have done it already, but you never know, right?"

Mike smiled back. "You never know…" He winked.

Chuckling, Steve nodded with a smile as the door closed behind him. Mike looked up at the ceiling; he was in a lot of pain but he didn't care at the moment. He had done what he needed to do – restore the confidence of the young man who meant so much to him – and nothing could bring him down right now.