I'm pretty sure my speed limits are off for the area I picked for them to be in, but I would appreciate it if you would overlook that small detail and just go with it.

And apparently I'm long-winded when it comes to Dov too…

Crazy Little Thing Called Dov

Sam was pretty sure the outline of his thumb and forefinger were permanently imprinted onto the bridge of his nose. Epstein had just started up again and the throbbing in Sam's head was increasing with every syllable.

Whenever they caught someone speeding, Sam would get on the radio and relay the information to the second team. And then just as he started to relish the silence, Dov would start right back up where he left off as if he hadn't even taken a breath.

Sam had no idea how he did it. And he thought Andy was allergic to silence.

It wasn't even ten o'clock and Sam was pretty sure he knew every bit of gossip that occurred while he and Andy were away. Why Epstein thought he cared was beyond him but still he kept talking.

"Traci started studying for the detective's exam; she says it's pretty tough. She won't let Jerry help her though; she says he's driving her nuts. If she has to hear again how he got the top marks that year, she says she's going to strangle him with his hundred dollar tie."

Sam pushed down the button on his radio. "Yeah, we got a blue two door coming at you, right lane doing 80."

It wasn't long before Sam handed the radar gun over to Dov, thinking that maybe if he had something to do he might shut up for a few seconds. Dov happily latched onto it and then settled himself into a comfortable position. "You know; I was thinking more along the line of Guns and Gangs myself; you know, undercover? Oliver doesn't think I can hack it though; he says I get distracted too easily. You know his wife has him on a diet…"

Like that was news to Sam.

And so the morning continued with Dov interrupting his monologue only when he had to get on the radio to alert the second team.

Over the last fifteen minutes it had been 'Gail had a run in with her mother, Gail had a run in with Chris, Gail thought Sam and Andy got off lucky, Gail may or may not be hooking up with Callaghan.'

Sam was starting to sense a theme there at the end but that wasn't the bit that interested him. First off, he couldn't believe that Gail had any opinion on his situation whatsoever. He really didn't think she would give a shit where he and Andy were concerned but apparently she hadn't been shy about her opinions on what they had done and how they had gotten off too easy.

"Yeah, the bitch is in fine form once again," Epstein announced, "and she hasn't been pulling any punches either."

"Except with Callaghan apparently," Sam mumbled to himself.

But it was the most reaction Dov had gotten from him all morning so he took it as a sign of interest. "Jury's still out on that one. You know I saw him changing in the locker room the other day…"

Sam coughed out his surprise and gaped at Dov in shock. Why the hell would he want to know that?

Dov looked up at Sam's reaction and immediately adjusted his line of thought. "Right. Anyway, I see them together at the Penny quite a bit. I'm pretty sure they ride together most of those nights."

"So," Sam shrugged. "I used to give McNally rides all the time."

Dov's chin dropped and he just stared at Sam with widened eyes.

Sam shook his head and blew out a frustrated breath. What possessed him to bring up McNally? "I'm just saying that sometimes a ride is just a ride."

"Yeah, and by ride, I mean…"

The last thing Sam wanted to know about was Callaghan's love life. The only part about that that held any interest for Sam was the fact that it wasn't with Andy. "Where's a carjacker when you need one?" He muttered to himself.

"Oh, have you ever played Grand Theft Auto? Chris and I have been playing this one game since…"

Sam tuned Dov out almost immediately; he had never been one for video games even when he was younger. He didn't play them, didn't watch them, and sure as hell didn't care to hear about them.

Sam's hand traced the familiar route back up to the bridge of his nose. They hadn't pulled anyone over in at least half an hour and Sam looked at his watch; it was after eleven. Close enough.

He straightened up from his perch against the cruiser. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure everyone in Toronto knows we're here by now. So what do you say we go grab lunch?"

"Huh? Sure," Dov agreed as he radioed the other team and started packing up their equipment. "You wanna go to the Penny or…"

Sam climbed in behind the wheel and shut the door while Dov was still talking, and when the rookie jumped in, he immediately started heading to a little diner he liked over by the station. The food at the Penny was good, but after four straight hours of Epstein the urge to have a drink would be too tempting.

They walked into the diner and Sam headed to his usual seat nodding at the waitress who had already started picking up the coffee pot. She poured him a cup without even asking and then turned to Epstein. "And what about you sweetheart, you want a coffee too?"

"Please," Epstein responded flipping over his cup for her.

"The usual?" She asked Sam while she poured. She knew that when in uniform, he was almost always in a hurry.

At Sam's nod, she turned to Dov. "Sorry, honey. I don't know your order."

Dov picked up the menu and Sam could tell immediately that his patience was about to be tried once again. So to avoid delaying the inevitable, he snatched the menu out of Dov's hands and closed it all in one motion. "Bring him the usual too."

"Yours or…"

"Hers," Sam clarified.

Dov was pretty sure he knew which 'her' Sam was talking about and just as he was about to ask, Sam shot him a look that told him he best keep his mouth shut.

So he did… for about five seconds.

"So do you think Guns and Gangs would…"

Dov was about five minutes into his sermon about the appeal of working undercover when their lunches arrived. Sam pushed Dov's plate directly at him. "Eat, Epstein."

They had just started digging in when the bell above the door went off and Sam looked up in habit, always striving to be aware of who and what was around him. He nodded in recognition when he saw that it was Noelle and Gail.

The two ladies immediately rerouted to join their two co-workers, but as soon as they arrived at the table, their radios came to life requesting them to a respond to a possible domestic a few blocks away.

Noelle flashed her dimples at Sam before grabbing half of his sandwich and pivoting back to the door. "Thanks, Sammy. I owe you," she threw over her shoulder.

Gail shrugged and grabbed the other half of Dov's. But he wasn't as accommodating as Sam.

He glared at the blonde and Sam could have sworn that it was about more than just a sandwich. "Watch it, Peck. Payback's a bitch, you know."

She widened her eyes in mock horror. "Oooh, revenge of the nerd… should I be scared."

She turned away before Dov had a chance to respond, but whirled back after only a couple of steps. "You do realize that I don't cry as easily as that prepubescent geek-in-training you humiliated last week right?"

Again she didn't wait for his retort, just jogged for the door to catch up with Noelle.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked around a mouthful.

"Nothing. Just Peck being… Peck."

"That bad, huh?" Sam shrugged. "Whatever, kid. Oliver tried to tell me this morning so I'll find out eventually."

Dov grimaced but realized that he'd rather fess up than have Oliver make a fool of him once again. "I did pretty well on that scavenger hunt, you know when…" He let the thought trail off when Sam glared at him again.

"Anyway, they needed someone to stake out an arcade; they were trying to take down a dealer who was targeting young kids at different ones across the city. Apparently Superintendent Peck found out that some of the parents from one of the schools were going to take matters into their own hands and she stepped in. They needed someone to go in who wouldn't look out of place. It was tailor made for me and all we really had to do was just blend in, watch and wait."

"We?"

"Chris and I."

"Okay…"

"Anyway, long story short, I was doing a great job blending in. I played a few different games on my own, while Chris did the same; we sort of took turns – one watching or wandering while the other played and then we'd switch it up. I was in the middle of one I could play in my sleep," he looked up at Sam knowingly, "you know so I could still keep an eye on the place at the same time. Anyway, out of the blue some kid challenges me; I figured it was a good way to look like I belonged there so I said yes."

Dov swallowed hard; the embarrassing part was coming and he really looked up to Sam, didn't want him thinking he was a screw-up…again. He blew out a long breath. "Our mark came in after I had been playing the kid for about twenty minutes and we had built up a bit of a crowd too. People were getting into it and cheering us on, and I was winning but just barely."

Sam nodded; he could see the problem coming already.

Dov continued, looking anywhere but at his partner. "I, uh, may have missed the perp coming in and uh, Chris may have already taken him down when I finally finished beating the kid at his own game. It's possible I could have been rubbing it in the kid's face a little when I realized the bust went down. But then I had to run over and help Chris cuff the dealer so I couldn't really apologize till afterward."

He finally looked at Sam hoping he wouldn't be too disappointed. "Really I was just immersing myself in the role. In my defense, they were all surprised I was a cop."

"I'm sure they were." Sam conceded trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.

Dov could tell he was just placating him though. "It's not like I was expecting the kid to cry; how was I supposed to know he'd never lost at that game before. I was just trying to… make it believable," he finished regretfully.

Well, Sam finally got his peace and quiet but it came in the form of a discouraged and depressed Epstein. It was almost unnatural and Sam wasn't sure which was worse.

They continued to eat in silence and since half their lunch ended up out the door, it didn't take them long to finish and pay. By the time they started heading to the exit, Epstein had hardly said another two words. Sam looked back at the rookie; he was beating himself up over it more than Sam ever could.

"Shaw's never going to let me live it down," Dov muttered to himself, "like he's always been perfect or something."

When they reached the door, Sam paused for a second. He couldn't believe he was even considering it, but Oliver had been goading him this morning about Andy… and despite being annoying and overeager, the kid had good instincts. "Hey Epstein."

"Yeah?"

"Next time Shaw gives you a rough go ask him why he won't let his kids watch Toy Story."

"What? That's crazy," Dov disputed, momentarily forgetting his dejection. "Those movies are classics."

"Yeah but they bring back too many memories for him," Sam explained cryptically. "You know the first one came out right around the time we were rookies together."

"What he cry like a baby or something?" Dov queried, perking up a little.

Sam shook his head and he was having trouble containing the dimples. "No, his first UC was in this massage place that fronted for a prostitution ring."

Dov stared at Sam in confusion wondering what one had to do with the other.

"Let's just say he could've been the star of the show that day," Sam chuckled and shook his head as he remembered the fall out. "There had to have been at least twenty dolls on his desk the next morning."

"Buzz Lightyear?" Dov guessed, still confused.

Sam's jaw dropped in surprise, though he should have known Dov would think of the one with all the bells and whistles first. He stared open mouthed at Dov waiting for him to catch up.

Dov thought about it for a second. Massage parlor… prostitutes…

"Oh." Dov started to nod, then his eyes widened and he started to laugh. "Ohhhhhh. No way, I can't believe… Oh, I can't wait to use this. And Chris, he's going to love it…"

And he was back. Here we go again, Sam thought. Maybe he should have waited at least another couple of hours, but it was too late now.

As Sam opened the door to the diner and stepped outside, he was joined quickly by Dov. An unbidden image of the little dog from the old Looney Tunes cartoon he used to watch with his sister popped into his head. The small dog was bounding up and down and all around a much larger figure. The picture was just as he remembered it; the words, well…

"You wanna go back to the station now Swarek? You're the boss. I wanna chase some bad guys. Maybe Best will let us, if you ask. That would be great huh? You think he'll put us back out there soon. Too bad we didn't get a high speed chase today huh? Now that would've been cool. So where are we headed Swarek? Back to the station? Out on the streets? Hey, can I call you Sam?"

Sam slid his thumb and forefinger into the familiar position at the bridge of his nose. Man he hated the doghouse.

I hope I didn't show my age too badly with that last part. If you're not familiar with the cartoon, visit YouTube and search Looney Tunes Spike and Chester and you'll get the picture.

Thanks to SairsJ for the review. And thanks to mamaverd for bringing up the Toy Story reference in our chat.

Don't forget the Rookie's Choice Awards!