Steve had walked Olsen down to his car. When he returned to the house, Mike was no longer in the living room. Steve locked the front door and turned the porch light off, then took the steps to the second floor two at a time.

Mike was in his bedroom. He'd taken his pajamas out of the bureau and was turning the covers down. Steve leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms, and watched him for several seconds.

"Gonna go to bed?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna talk?"

"Not right now."

"Okay…. You know where I'll be, right?"

"Yeah."

Steve backed away from the doorway and headed down the hall. Mike turned and sat on the side of the bed, leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. He didn't want to be so short with Steve but he just couldn't trust himself to be calm and rational right now.

He got up and crossed the room, snapping off the overhead light and closing the door. In the dark, still fully clothed, he laid on the bed. He placed his left hand over the still healing wound in his right shoulder, and closed his eyes.

# # # # #

Lying on the bed in Jeannie's room, Steve stared at the ceiling. He'd left the door open, hoping that he would hear Mike call his name, knowing that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Eventually he turned off the table lamp and closed his eyes, but sleep would prove elusive.

# # # # #

He glanced at the clock: 6:49. Sitting up carefully, trying not to aggravate the dull headache that he was almost getting used to, he quickly got dressed and left the room. The master bedroom door was still closed. He knocked lightly and entered at the same time, knowing he was taking a chance.

Mike was still laying on the bed, in the clothes he was wearing the night before, his eyes closed. As Steve approached, he opened his eyes.

"Good, you're awake," Steve said brightly. "Get up. Get yourself changed and pack a bag." He turned and started for the door.

"What?" came the low voice from the bed.

Steve stopped and looked back. "Rudy had a thought last night. He said it might be a good idea if you and I got away for a couple of days, you know – a change of scenery?" Mike had begun to sit up. "So we're going on a road trip. Um, you're gonna have to do the driving," he shrugged apologetically, "sorry about that. So, let's get ready and hit the road, shall we?"

Mike, whose initial irritation was beginning to dwindle the longer Steve talked, was almost smiling, realizing exactly what was happening here. The look of affection and appreciation that was now visible in his eyes made Steve turn away, self-conscious. As he stepped out into the hallway, he called over his shoulder, "Let's go – I want to hit the road as soon as we can."

"Where are we going?"

Steve stopped, and turned to lean back into view, grinning as wide as his wired jaw would allow. "I thought you'd have that figured out by now. Arizona, of course."

# # # # #

It was just before noon and they were on the I-5 on the way to Bakersfield. Steve glanced across the front seat once again and smiled. It was strange to see Mike behind the wheel of the Porsche, but he was getting used to the sight.

When they left Mike's house, in his blue sedan, Steve had requested a brief stop at his apartment to pick up a few things. When he came down the steps and tossed his overnight bag into the back of the Porsche, for a split second Mike thought they were going to take two cars.

Shaking his head and chuckling, Steve approached the sedan, took Mike's bag off the back seat and started walking towards the Porsche. "Michael, I love you dearly," he said with a smile, "but if you think we're going on a road trip in … that … instead of, well, the coolest car on the planet, you're sadly mistaken."

Now, on a gloriously sunny day, they were well on their way to Tucson, hopefully able to put some distance between themselves and the turbulence both behind them and to come. Steve knew Mike had not spoken to Jeannie since the 'incident', and he hoped that giving father and daughter some time together would be beneficial for everyone.

It was very late when they pulled into the parking lot of motel just outside Tucson. They had decided to wait until the next morning to let Jeannie know they were in town. They checked in and grabbed a quick meal in the small attached restaurant before retiring for the night.

Steve fell asleep quickly; even though he hadn't done any of the driving, his low-grade headache has been draining.

Mike, who was equally tired, couldn't get to sleep right away. He was trying to figure out what and how much to tell his daughter. He was loathe to tell her everything, like how unsure he was becoming about what he remembered, and how concerned he was that he was guilty of shooting an unarmed man. He lay on the motel room bed, staring at the ceiling; he didn't how long it took till he finally fell asleep.

# # # # #

The Porsche pulled up to the curb in front of a small apartment building. Steve glanced at his watch again. "So, if you're right and she doesn't have a class until 11, we're here in plenty of time."

They got out and entered the building. They climbed the staircase to the second floor and stopped in front of apartment number three. Mike glanced at Steve and took a deep breath before knocking.

"Coming!" they heard a female voice call from inside. Mike felt Steve's hand briefly touch his back in support.

The door swung open and a smiling Jeannie, dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and shorts, appeared. She froze for a split second, then squealed and leapt forward into her father's arms. He took a startled half-step backward as she barreled into him and hugged him fiercely, and Steve saw his partner wince slightly through his grin.

Steve braced himself. She almost bounced off Mike towards him, so excited she hadn't even noticed that the younger man was not looking his best. He returned the tight hug then she pulled back to look at them again.

"What are you doing here?" she asked breathlessly then, finally noticing Steve's misshapen jaw, her smile disappeared. "Oh my god, Steve, are you okay? What happened? Is your jaw broken?"

Steve held his hands up and smiled as best he could. Her eyes widened when she saw the wires. "Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie, I'm fine, I'm okay. Think about it," he continued quickly, "would I be here if I wasn't?"

Jeannie looked to her father for confirmation. Mike smiled and nodded. "He's going to be okay, really."

Confused, Jeannie looked from her father to Steve. "Well, then, why are you two here? I mean, I'm really glad you are, but … is everything okay?"

"Sweetheart, everything's fine. We just want to take you out for breakfast. Do you have time before you have to be in class?"

She frowned, knowing her father was hiding something, but going along for now. She glanced at her watch. "Sure. I just have a civil engineering class this morning but I'm acing the course, so –"

"You are not going to skip a class, young lady," Mike said sternly, "not while I'm paying for your education." But there was a lightness in his tone that made them all smile.

"Yes, sir," she chuckled. "Just let me get my purse." She turned to go back into the apartment then looked back and squealed again, this time a little quieter. "I can't believe you guys are here!"

# # # # #

The waitress had just taken their order. Jeannie, sitting beside her father, turned her attention across the table. "All right, spill. What happened to your face?"

Steve glanced at Mike, then looked at her, smiling. "Your father and I got into a little 'altercation' about a week ago," he started, but before he could get any further, she turned quickly to her father.

"Mike, are you okay? Were you hurt too?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart, don't worry about me," he said calmly, not looking at Steve, who realized that in what he was saying, Mike was not actually lying to his daughter, just not giving her all the details.

She stared at him for several seconds then, seemingly satisfied, she turned her attention back across the table. "So what happened?"

Steve gave her the very sketchy, abbreviated details of what had happened, leaving out everything about Mike's injury, and even how badly he himself had ended up. When finished, it sounded no worse than a schoolyard dust-up. When he briefly met Mike's stare, he could see the appreciation in the blue eyes.

"So," Jeannie said slowly and they could hear the mischief in her voice, "you basically have a glass jaw, right?"

She looked with naughty doe-eyed innocence from Steve to her father, and was rewarded by Mike's chuckle and Steve's faux offended "Hey!" He pointed to his face. "This really hurts, you know," he whined dramatically and she rolled her eyes, then mimed playing a violin.

They were still laughing when the waitress showed up with their food and, after another comment from Jeannie about Steve's liquid breakfast, much to Mike's relief the talk turned to more mundane matters.

Jeannie left for her class and the men decided to spend the afternoon being tourists in Tucson, after making arrangements to meet again for dinner and spend the evening together. Steve watched his partner relax more and more as the day progressed, profoundly grateful to Olsen for making the suggestion in the first place.

Though Jeannie was still suspicious of the sudden unannounced appearance of her father and his partner, she had decided not to press the issue. Mike seemed as relaxed and happy as Steve, and she was thrilled with their unexpected company.

Early the next morning, the two detectives were back on the road towards home, hoping to make it one day. Thoughts of what they were returning to began to slip back into Mike's consciousness as they drove through the desert, and Steve could sense the slow, subtle change in mood.

They were halfway between Bakersfield and home when Mike turned and looked across the front seat. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Steve, who had been leaning back against the seat with his eyes closed, raised his head and glanced over through his dark glasses. "For what?"

"For the past couple of days," he said with a gentle smile. "I really needed that…"

"You're welcome…" Steve began slowly, "but it was really Rudy's idea."

"Rudy suggested we get away, you suggested Arizona," Mike said with finality.

With a grin and an accepting shrug, Steve leaned back against the seat again and closed his eyes. But he was beginning to worry too; he couldn't conceive of the prospect of losing Mike as his partner.