Chapter 14

Fin and Jamie went to the station to talk with Captain Cragen about what happened with Ken Jackson at Jamie's apartment. Also there was the matter that Cragen had caught Fin staying at Jamie's place. They both knew Cragen didn't really buy that Fin was staying on the couch, but he never called them on it... yet. Just then Cragen poked his head out of his office when he saw them walk into the squad room. "Fin, Jamie, my office now."

"Why do I feel like a high school student now?" Jamie asked, Fin as they walked towards the office.

"I think it's because we just got called into the principal's office." Fin said and smirked at Jamie.

Jamie slightly smiled, "It was my second home. I spent more time there then I did in class."

"Really? I never would have guessed." Fin said sarcastically as they entered Cragen's office.

"Close the door." Cragen stated, and looked at the two of them. The room was so tense you could cut a knife with it.

Fin shut the door and then turned to face Cragen. "We gave our statements already, Captain." Jamie said.

"Good. Now I want to hear what happened, before I read it."

"Captain, we told you everything that happened when you showed up at Jamie's place." Fin stated and leaned against the table that was by the door.

Cragen nodded, "No, not about the shooting, about you two."

"What about us?" Fin asked.

"What I want to know is what is going on between you. If it's going to interfere with the job."

"Alright, Captain, you're right. There is something going on between me and Jamie, but it will not effect the job one bit."

"I hope for your sake it doesn't. Because if it becomes a problem I'll have to transfer one of you out of here and I don't want to have to do that." Cragen said.

Both detectives nodded, "We understand, Capt'n." Jamie said.

"Good. You can go now." Cragen stated.

Both detectives turned and walked out of the door. It seemed like things were moving so slow. At a pace that would make a snail seem like it was breaking the speed limit.

Jamie looked at Fin. "He took that a little too well." she stated.

"I think it would be a bigger deal to him if we were actually working as partners." Fin said.

Jamie nodded. It did make sense. "Much bigger deal."

"Okay, so as long as the partnerships stay exactly the way they are, we won't have a problem. Not that we would." Fin said and winked at Jamie.

She smirked, "Not that we would." She quoted. And looked down the hallway to see Nicole and Munch walking down. Nicole looked better, but still looked like she was drug through hell ass backwards.

Jamie and Fin met them halfway down the hall. "Hey, didn't expect to see you here for a while." Jamie said.

Nicole nodded, "I want to get this over with." She mumbled.

"Yeah, I understand. Have you guys given your statements yet?" Jamie asked.

Munch shook his head, "Not yet."

"It's no sweat. Just tell them what happened, man. This whole thing was totally justifiable." Fin said.

Nicole nodded; she seemed to be in another realm of some sort, "Yeah." Her voice was barley in a whisper.

"Don't worry, Nic, everything's gonna be okay." Jamie said putting a supportive arm around Nicole's shoulders.

She nodded. She was pulled out of the realm, smack dab into reality. "Right." She said than took a deep breath. "I can do this."

"Damn right you can." Munch said. "You've done nothing wrong."

A small smile played on Nicole's lips. She knew that she did do something wrong. She never told Munch that much about her past. It was something that she tried to hide from everyone that she could. She looked at the three of them that were looking at her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to get her courage up that seemed to have been ripped out from underneath her.

She felt like she had no solid ground under her, "I haven't done… anything wrong." She said, trying to sound convenient.

"Right. Come on, Nic, let's go get this over with." Munch said and walked her off down the hall.

Jamie looked at Fin. "She's gonna be okay. It just may take awhile."

/Chung Chung/

Nicole and Munch walked into Cragen's office; "You wanted to see us?" Nicole asked, her arms were crossed over her chest.

"Have you two given your statements to I.A.?" Cragen asked sitting down at his desk.

Munch nodded, "Yeah. Just did."

"Good. Now, tell me what's going on." Cragen said.

Nicole frowned, "What's there to tell. You know what happened at the apartment."

"Yes, I do. But maybe I want to here it from you." Cragen said directing his question to Nicole.

Sometimes she could swear that he took lessons from her about mind games. She shifted her weight to the other foot, "Hear what? What happened?"

"What I want to know is, did you know your attacker?" Cragen asked.

Why not just post it on the front page. For the world to see. She took a deep breath, "In short terms. He was an ex of mine from Dallas."

"Okay, since Jamie's apartment door was shattered off it's hinges, it's easy to say that he broke in and you shot him. Is that correct?"

"Yeah I did shoot him. I had no choice." She answered.

"I know. The evidence shows that you shot him in self-defense. That's why this matter is now closed."

She looked at Munch then turned her attention back to Cragen, "Then why did you want to see us, if you already know what happened?"

"I thought you'd want to hear it from me rather than I.A." Cragen stated. "I thought you deserved the courtesy."

Both detectives nodded. Nicole went to rub her eyes, and decided against it, "Appreciated."

"Okay, if there's nothing else then, you can go." Cragen said and looked at Munch and Nicole.

"Nothing else." Munch answered and looked at Nicole. They both left the office.

Jamie looked up from her desk and saw them leave Cragen's office. "Hey, how did it go?" she asked.

"Simple." Nicole answered, and looked down at her watch, to see what time it was.

"A little too simple." Munch added.

"Don't get paranoid, partner." Fin said walking into the squad room and handed Jamie a cup of coffee. "Just be glad it's over."

Nicole looked around the room, "You know, I think John is right. It was just a little to simple."

"That's because it was a justifiable shooting. No way for I.A. to screw you over." Fin stated.

"Yeah, Fin's right. It's over. We all have to let it go." Jamie said taking a sip of her coffee.

Nicole nodded. Letting go seemed hard – yet so easy. She looked at her watch; "Shift is about to start. And both you and me are on leave remember?"

"How could I forget. I'm starting to go nuts not being able to work." Jamie said standing up from her desk.

"Funny." Nicole commented with a yawn, "I just thought you were always like that."

Jamie laughed and noticed Nicole's yawn. "Yeah, I think going home and sleeping is a good idea."

Nicole looked up at Munch; "Sleep does sound good. I can hear the bed calling my name from here."

Munch looked over at Nicole. He could help but think that they should both still be in bed right now but instead they were here at the station justifying their actions. "Yeah, go home and get some sleep. I'll check on you later."

She nodded, lazily. Plus gave a lazy smile, "All right." She said and looked over at Jamie.

"Okay, I'll give in. Come on, I'll walk out with you." Jamie said.

Both girls looked back at their guys. Thanking God that they found someone like them. Someone that they could give their heart too. And not have to worry about it getting broken.

They walked out of the precinct, and Nicole looked at Jamie. "I'm sorry that this happened."

Jamie looked over at her partner. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Don't I?" Nicole asked, "If I never was spontaneous like this, I would have never left the apartment for coffee. And none of this would have happened."

"No you don't, you should be able to go out anytime you want to get coffee without being attacked. And the fact that he knew where you were tells me he's been stalking you. But he's gone now. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

"It's not him that I'm worried about." She answered. "What's bugging me, is that I got you guys involved in something that should have never happened. And I put you guys in danger."

"I know I might sound like a broken record, but danger comes with our jobs. I wouldn't be a cop if I was afraid of being hurt." Jamie said trying to comfort Nicole.

Nicole gave a halfhearted smile. "I have more scars then I can count from this job. Half of them are not physical."

"Yeah, I hear that. Every cop has their share of scars. Physical and emotional. I definitely have my share." Jamie said thinking about her days back in Chicago. Not just Chicago, her days in Narcotics were pretty scarring too. "You wanna grab some coffee before you go home."

"No, I just want to go home and sleep for about a day and a half." Nicole stated.

"I hear that. Hopefully by the time I get home the super will have my door fixed."

"Again I'm sorry about that. I really am." Nicole said looking at Jamie.

"Hey, these things happen. I'm just glad it was the door that got hurt and not any of us." Jamie replied and felt like idiot after that statement left her mouth. Nicole had been hurt. She had the bruises on her face to prove it. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. Listen, I'll see you later. I really want to get home."

"Okay, call me if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks." Nicole said and flagged down a cab. She got in and the cab drove off down the street.

Jamie did the same since she wasn't driving her car yet. She hopped in the cab, gave him her address and leaned her head against the seat for the duration on the ride.

/Chung Chung/

Nicole opened the door of the apartment. She was tired as hell, but she wasn't sure that she could sleep. The day sure as hell started out like hell. She walked over to the couch and sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Even with the stuff that had happened so early in the morning. She did admit that she had it good. She could just sit there and complain about what wasn't right. But there was no point in that. She had a few good friends that she could count on. Which was more then she could ever ask for.

What she didn't understand was why all this bad stuff happened to her. Who the hell did she piss off to have to endure this all this shit? But there was no sense dwelling on it. Everyone was right, it's over and done with. She just had to figure out a way to get past it.

Which wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded – it wasn't like she just fell of a horse and had to get back up on it. However, it wasn't like it was like she could forget about what happened, that morning. It brought up a lot of memories that she locked away.

She finally picked herself up off the couch and walked down the hallway to the bedroom. She stood in the doorway and looked at the bed. She never should have gotten out of it. If had of just stayed there with Munch, none of this would have ever happened.

She walked over to the bed and sat down with a heavy sigh. Maybe she should try to get at least a few hours of sleep, although she knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Once she got into bed, her mind started to turn. Going into overdrive. Searching for a shut off switch it seemed like there was none.

Her mind turned with the events that happened that morning, and the events that happened back in Dallas. It seemed that it could have all been avoided – with one simple word. No. If only she had listened to Lee in the first place, about going out with Jackson.

But when mistakes are made, prices are paid. And she had definitely paid a high price. One that almost cost her, her life. At least now Jackson was out of her life for good this time. One less asshole to worry about.

One less, and one to take it's place. But then again, if things were meant to be, then she had to have a few words with that person. Things were sure taking a bumpy road in her life.

But then again, part of her was saying that she was right where she needed to be.

A place she wouldn't give up for the world. If she did, it would mean having to leave Munch and that was something she was just not willing to do... again. She had already left him once before, when she went to work for NCIS, albeit they were not a couple at the time but she still hated being away from him.

She hated leaving it all behind when she left. She wasn't about leave, ever – even if it meant her life. She wasn't going to leave it all behind.

Now she could swear that her brain just went past over drive. And there was no switch to end it.

She felt her eyes getting heavy and she closed them. It didn't help any. If she couldn't shut her brain off, there was no way she was going to be able to sleep. But she definitely had to try.

She rolled over on to her left side. And her brain decided to start thinking about Munch. And how fast the relationship started.

Yet, her brain went on and on.

She couldn't believe all the times that she told herself that this one is finally the one. Thankfully, this time she knew it was the one. And that all the good ones haven't been taken. And that her heart wasn't going to keep on breaking.

She known the kind who could glitter like diamonds, and shatter her heart just like glass. And the ones who would rob from her future to pay for their past. Also the ones who would keep a girl dreaming.

Thankfully she found that one good man. For all the love she had to give, to be the reason that she would live.

Her thoughts of Munch were finally starting to slow down her brain waves and sleep was starting to come over her. She was happy that her last thoughts, before she fell asleep, were about Munch.

TBC…