Ed was already sitting in the car, grinning wildly as Eddie slammed the door shut behind her.
"So, what are we going to…"
"Shut up, Ed." Her voice was so harsh that Rickers didn't object. They drove in silence for the first time ever, and despite her expectation Eddie felt even more trapped and threatened now. Her mind, no longer occupied with fighting off her partner, returned to happier times in her life – precisely, to her first months as a cop. Looking back at all the mistakes she had made in her first weeks Eddie wondered how Jamie had managed to keep her and himself alive. She surely had given her TO a hard time sometimes, but eventually he had learnt to pay her back. And eventually she had learnt to gain his trust.
When exactly had she fallen in love with him? Day one or day thirty? And why couldn't it be as easy and… natural to be together as it had before?

"A penny for your thoughts" Ed mumbled without looking at her, and Eddie straightened. "Why, did I miss something important?" Her voice was controlled despite the tears that burned behind her eyes, threatened to drown her heart.
From all people in the world, why did she have to hurt Jamie? Why did she hurt the person that had so quickly and so irreversibly become so important to her?
Ed shrugged. "Just your little bodyguard and his new victim."
Eddie frowned. "Should there be any sense to your words?"
Her partner shook his head in mock disappointment. "You really think you're the first one to fall for the Commissioner's golden boy? Huh? Come on. Pretty, clever, oh, and his daddy's our boss. And a good one at that. But anyway" Ed had long stopped caring if Eddie was listening to him, he just kept on talking, "you're not the first, I guess, and you won't be the last. He's a pretty popular guy. He can have half the precinct if he wants. Whereas I... I know I'm not as pretty as that Boy Scout, but… I like you, Janko. I know I wasn't exactly a gentleman yesterday, but I really like you."

Eddie wasn't hearing a word. Pretty popular guy? She remembered the end of her first week – she had followed a boy into a small street without asking for backup. It wasn't that she had forgotten about it, just – why? Jamie would be behind her, and the boy she was chasing was about ten. And holding a woman's bag, which was why she couldn't let him go.
That she had lost the boy had turned out to be the smallest problem.

"Damn it!" Eddie stopped in the middle of a little crossing. He was gone, his steps no longer audible. To the left? To the right? Straight ahead? She kneeled down, automatically lowering her gun, to search for any traces of the boy. Or the bad, maybe gone open in the flight.
"Get down!"
Eddie reacted at once. She let herself fall forward and pulled up her gun, expecting to be attacked from one of the streets. Seconds later, Jamie was next to her, aiming around at… nobody, actually. Eddie sat up. Her elbows looked pretty bad and her lips were bleeding.
"What happened? Did you shoot him?"

Jamie didn't answer. He stood right at the spot where she just had been, weapon high, absolute terror in his eyes. Terror… and tears.
Eddie quickly stood up. "Jamie, are you…"
He turned around and the terror turned to anger. "What the hell you think you're doing, Janko? If you want to end your life, use your own gun!"
Eddie backed away. She had never seen her TO that angry before. Actually, she hadn't believed he could ever get that angry.
"You're out in the open, alone, gun down, on your own! You're begging them to kill you, is it that? Is that what you want, making me see you killed? Did you despise me that much, after all? Was your life that worthless with us riding together?"
Eddie swallowed. Jamie clearly wasn't talking to her anymore, but to whom else? And what should she do? Nobody had prepared her for the situation that her TO lost his mind.
"Jamie, it's okay" she said softly – and cursed herself when the terror and pain in his eyes exploded.
"I'm sorry" she quickly said, reaching out for his hand, "I'm sorry, I just… don't understand. What happened?"

Slowly, Jamie nodded and seemed to come back to reality. "I'm the one to say sorry, I guess. I shouldn't have… but you should know better than to run alone. Is that clear? It is not okay to do that. It is not okay to die from your own stupidity, or from… your partner not being quick enough." His voice broke and he closed his eyes to close in the tears. "It was not okay when… my partner Vinny died just because of that. Because of me." He opened his eyes again and cleared his throat. "Listen, Eddie, if you want a new…"
"Thank you." She interrupted him before he could offer her changing the TO, partly out of fear what her decision would be. "Thanks for your honesty. And I'm really sorry for you."
Jamie shook his head. "You shouldn't be sorry for me."
She shrugged. "You're here. And thanks to you, I'm here too."
Jamie smiled sadly.

Her cell beeped with an unknown caller. Frowning, Eddie hit the button.
"Janko?"
"No." The voice was very matter-of-factly, but it was enough to make her tense.
"Jamie?"
"Yeah, I…" He sighed in relief. "Thanks for not hanging up on me. I'm using Taylor's cell."
"What happened to yours?"
"I was afraid you wouldn't pick up."
"Oh come on, is that Reagan?" Ed laughed. "Poor dog."
Eddie forced herself not to answer him. "Well, I did. So what does ´no´ mean?"
"No means no. No, I won't forget about Friday. And I really hope you'll be there, too."