Chapter 15

Munch unlocked the apartment door and walked into the living room. He looked around for Nicole and didn't see her anywhere. He walked down the hallway to the bedroom and stopped in the doorway when he saw her sleeping form in the bed.

He walked over to the bed and looked down at her. He placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair. "I love you so much, Nic, I never want to lose you."

Munch leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead and stepped back when she began to stir. Nicole opened her eyes and looked up at him. When she saw his face she couldn't help but smile. "Hey, how long have you been there?" Nicole asked.

"I just got here. Just wanted to see how you were doing." Munch answered and sat down on the bed.

Nicole shifted her position and Munch sat back against the headboard. She sat up and leaned back against his chest. "I don't suppose I could persuade you to take the rest of the day off?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, no. I just stopped by to see how you were doing. I have to get back to work. Fin is waiting in the car." Munch said and got up off the bed.

Nicole managed to get herself out of bed and stand up. She wrapped her arms around Munch's waist and kissed him. He returned the kiss and pulled her tighter to him. After several minutes they finally broke the kiss and Nicole walked Munch out to the door.

"I'll call you later, okay?" he said.

"Looking forward to it." Nicole said as Munch left the apartment. Just then the phone started to ring. Nicole found the cordless and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Nic, get yourself dressed. We're going out."

"Jamie? Why? Where are we going?"

"I don't know. But we're not gonna be sitting around in our apartments all day. Let's get out and find something to do. I do need to go to the bank though. I gotta cash my paycheck." Jamie said over the line.

"Okay, let me shower and I'll meet you downstairs in a half hour, okay?" Nicole asked.

"Okay, I'll see you then." Jamie said.

Nicole hung up the phone and made her way down the hall to take a shower. Half hour later she was standing in front of the building when Jamie walked up to meet her. "So? Ready to go?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah. Where to first?" Nicole asked.

"Like I said, I need to go to the bank. I haven't cashed my paycheck yet and I need to pay my rent." Jamie said as they started walking.

They made their way down the street and passed the time with small talk. When they reached the bank, they both made their way inside.

With that, Jamie picked the shortest line. Nicole stopped by the small table with all the deposit and withdrawal slips. Mercifully, this wasn't going to take long. Monday's were usually slow.

The teller in the window directly to Jamie's left screamed.

The next moment, the man standing before the window whirled around.

There was a gun in his hand.

"Everyone freeze," he announced loudly. "This is a hold up."

The man's eyes bounced around like pinballs that had just been put into play. He seemed to aim his weapon at everyone in the bank at the same time. Nicole could almost hear the bank robber's nerves jangling.

"Get down!" the man shouted. "Everyone get down on the floor!" His gun moved erratically from person to person, turning each into a potential target, a potential victim. "Now!"

Nicole did a quick calculation. There were fourteen other people in the bank, not counting the bank robber. Five of them tellers. The gunman looked so rattled he could start firing away at any second. It had all the signs of becoming a bloodbath at the slightest provocation.

Going through the motions of dropping down to the floor. Nicole reached for her pistol. She decided now, she wasn't going anywhere without it.

The rest happened so fast she only had the opportunity to absorb it after the fact. Before she knew what Jamie was doing, the partner had saddled him with cried out in what sounded like utter panic. Both Nicole and the robber's head jerked in Jamie's direction. The bank robber stared at her.

Jamie's eyes were wide as they were riveted on the bank robber and she was trembling. Her hands were raised above her head in total submission.

"Omigod, it's a gun." Panic escalated in her voice. "He's got a gun. Oh, please don't shoot me," she implored. "I just found out I'm pregnant. You'd be killing two people, not just one. Me and my baby. I don't want to die, mister. I've got everything to live for. Please don't kill me."

With each word she uttered, Jamie edged closer and closer to the bank robber. She was breathing heavily and still trembling.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch. Nobody's going to die, just do what I tell you." The bank robber looked panicked himself as he trained the gun on her.

"All right, all right –" Jamie's voice hitched "—if you promise you won't hurt me. Pretty please?"

The last two worse she uttered were distinctively different from the rest. As she seemed to sag down right in front of him, Jamie grabbed hold of his gun hand. Catching him by surprise, she violently jerked his arm behind his back. In less than half a heartbeat, her own gun was in her other hand. She held it close enough to the robber's temple to get her point across.

"Drop the gun." He did as he was told, cursing her roundly. "Now apologize to the nice people and say you're sorry."

"What the—" At a loss for coherence, the bank robber let loose a string of profanities that only made Jamie shake her head.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" she marveled. Relieved that the situation was over, Jamie took a deep breath, trying to get hold of her own nerves. They felt as if they'd been stretched to the limit. Adrenaline still racing through her veins. "Keep that up and we're going to have to wash your mouth out with soap, aren't we, Nic?"

Nicole walked over shaking her head, and laughing. She pulled out the handcuffs that she had with her in her handbag. Habit had it that she carried her shield, gun and handcuffs with her.

The robber winced as the cuffs went on. "You're cops?"

"No, just into a little S&M," Jamie quipped. "We like to carry handcuffs with us. You never know when they might come in handy."

Nicole bent down, using a handkerchief, she stooped down and picked up the man's weapon by the butt. Nothing fancy. She wondered if this was the man's first time. He'd certainly behaved that way.

"Next time you want money from a bank, do it right. Use a withdrawal slip." Nicole tucked the gun in at her belt for the time being, then looked at Jamie. "Want me to call for back up?"

"I don't think we really need it." Jamie said looking at the man she just apprehended. "But we will need a car to transport him."

Nicole gave the handcuffs a good tug, making sure they were secure. "You mean you're not going to fly off with him to the precinct?"

"As magical as I may seem sometimes, I think a squad car would be the best thing right now." Jamie said smiling.

Nicole smiled, "Ah, you're cape's at the dry cleaners."

"Yeah and the bat mobile is in the shop." Jamie laughed.

Nicole laughed. Separating herself from the others, she took out her cell phone and put in a call for a squad car. The second she closed the phone the bank manager was on her telling her how grateful he was to her and her partner and asking if there was anything he could do to show his deep appreciation.

"Other than giving away a five-pound box of tens to charity, I'd say hire a security guard. The next time you might not be so lucky."

"Thank you. I'll definitely keep that in mind." the manager said walking away.

Nicole shook her head and walked up to Jamie, "Yet another day. Another surprise."

"Why is it, we can't even go to the bank without something happening?" Jamie asked and looked at her partner.

"Don't ask me." Nicole said raising her eyebrows. "I told you when we became partners that I was a jinx's."

"I'm starting to think that Narcotics is a lot safer. And that's saying something." Jamie remarked.

Nicole shook her head, "Nah." She said as approaching sirens grew louder. The cavalry had arrived. "Ah, that's always such a comforting sound." She looked at the prisoner. "Bet you don't think so, do you?"

"Go fuck yourself." He spat at them.

Next thing he knew, he found himself up against the wall, "Watch your mouth." Nicole stated, harshly.

"Or it wont be soap you will be tasting in your mouth." Jamie added.

The uniformed officers made their way into the bank and took the suspect from the detectives. The suspect was about to say something else but closed his mouth when he saw the looks on their faces.

/Chung Chung/

Both gave their statement about what happened. It was the second time they were at the house, even if both were off duty. They were beginning to think that they should just come back to work. Cause it seemed like work was being thrown in front of them.

Cragen called both detectives into his office. They walked in and stood in front of his desk. "Shut the door." Nicole turned around and closed the door. "It seems you two are always getting caught in the middle of bad situations. So, I've decided that if you can both get medical clearance, I'll allow to come back to work. But only if your doctors give the okay."

Nicole looked at Jamie, who looked at her. Both were surprised. Jamie looked at Cragen, "Awesome."

"Don't get so excited yet. You have to make sure your shoulder is up to par before I'll even consider putting you back on active duty." Cragen said to Jamie and then turned to Nicole. "Same for you too. I don't need you blacking out on the job."

Nicole crossed her arms; "I'm ready. And I'm not about to black out, Captain."

"Good. But I still need written statements from your doctors. Think you can handle that?" he asked.

The two partners looked at each other, "Of course." Nicole answered.

"Okay. That's all I wanted to say. If you two have nothing else to say, you're dismissed."

Both women walked out of Cragen's office and were stopped by Olivia. She had a shocked look on her face, "What happened to you?" she asked Nicole.

"Nothing happened to me." Nicole said forgetting about the bruises on her face. "We just came to give statements about the bank robbery we stopped."

Olivia shook her head, "Nic that's not what I mean. What happened to your face, sweetie?"

Nicole reached a hand up and touched her face. "I was attacked this morning." she said looked at Jamie.

"I'm gonna go." Jamie said and started to walk away.

Nicole glanced at the retreating form, "I'll call you okay?" Jamie gave a wave in response.

"What do you mean you were attacked? By who?" Olivia asked.

Nicole sighed, "Ex from Dallas."

"What the hell was he doing here in New York?"

Nicole looked around then back at Olivia. "He said, that he wanted to take me back."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry this happened to you. Are you alright?" Olivia asked pulling Nicole into a hug.

Nicole hugged her back. "I'm going to be fine." I hope!

"Come on, let's get some coffee. It'll make you feel better." Olivia suggested.

Nicole smirked, "Sounds like a great idea. But I think me and Jamie should go get a note from the doc's office clearing us for work."

"Cragen's gonna let you come back, huh? Well, okay, go do that. I want you back here with us as soon as possible." Olivia stated.

Nicole nodded. "Thanks, I'll try to persuade the doc."

"You might have to do more than persuading." Olivia laughed. "Try bribing him."

Nicole laughed. "Or hang him up by his toes."

"Whatever you do, just get back to work with us, okay?"

"No problem." Nicole said and walked away, passing Elliot.

Elliot stopped and looked back at Nicole's retreating form.

/Chung Chung/

After Jamie left the precinct, she decided to go see her doctor. On one hand she didn't need the sling anymore, but on the other her should was still sore and dealing with that asshole in the bank didn't help matters.

"Detective," The doctor greeted her, "What can I do for you today?"

"Okay, here's the deal. I really want to go back to work but my Captain won't put me back on active duty without your approval." Jamie said.

The Doctor nodded, "And just how is your shoulder?"

"Truthfully it's still a little sore and it gets stiff at times but nothing I can't deal with." Jamie answered.

"All right, let's take a look at it."

Jamie sat down on the examining table and pulled her right arm out of the shirt sleeve. The bandage that was on her shoulder was soaked through with blood. Jamie looked down at it in surprise. She hadn't even felt the stitches tearing.

"After, we get these stitches sown back up," The doctor said putting on latex gloves on. "We will see just how ready you are for work."

"Really, doc, my shoulder's okay. I didn't even know I tore the stitches." Jamie said still looking down at her shoulder.

The doctor started fixing his work that she had ruined. "Unfortunately, I will have to write in that I want you on desk duty for at least today and tomorrow."

"Great the worst part of the job, paper pushing. But I guess I can't complain, at least I'll be working."

"You're lucky to be back to work at all. An inch either way, Detective; you wouldn't have full use of your arm."

"I'm just glad I don't have to wear that sling anymore. It's been a total pain in the ass." Jamie said smirking at the doctor.

The doctor shook his head, the more he dealt with female detectives the more he became less surprised what came out of their mouth. "Long as you promise me and your captain that you will try and keep a low profile. I don't want to see you back in here for a while."

"Believe me, doc, you're a nice man and all but I really don't want to see you for a long time after this." Jamie remarked chuckling.

The doctor flashed her a small smile. "And you're a real nice, woman. And I don't want to see you for a while either."

"Count on it. Although this isn't the first time I've been shot and it probably won't be the last either."

"Try to make it the last."

"Yeah, try is the word. So, am I good to go?" Jamie asked.

"Just let me write up the note, and you will be back to work." The doctor said peeling off his latex gloves and picking up and pen. He started to write the note.

/Chung Chung/

After Nicole left the precinct she went straight to see her doctor. She wanted desperately to get back to work and she'd be damned if her doctor was gonna tell her otherwise.

"Well, look who's come back, Nicole." Her doctor said standing up from his desk. "It hasn't been that long."

"I know. I was hoping I could get a note from you clearing me to work. My captain won't let me return without one."

"You're starting to sound like a broken record, you know that?"

"Yeah tell me about it. But just so you know my head's fine. I won't be blacking out on the job. Although everyone seems to be concerned with that."

"They have every right." He said walking to the front of his desk. "Now, tell me. Have you had any innocents with your hearing? Eye sight?" Then he looked at her face, "And what did you get into this time, to get those bruises?"

"No hearing loss or blurred vision. As for the bruises, that's another story, one I really don't want to get into right now." Nicole said averting her gaze away from the doctor.

He didn't push it any farther. "All right, let me take a look. And we'll have you on your way. Just like last time."

"Thanks, doc. I really appreciate it."

TBC…