Third chappy-ter! Yay! And I won't be dwelling on the whole "Ed Green looks like Collins" thing. M'kay? M'kay.

I own nothing. The Almighty Larson owns it all.

"Let me get this straight," Joanne said, pacing the room. She and the rest of her friends were back in the livingroom area. "You were walking on one of the streets you usually take to get to the subway and you tripped on your shoe strings in front of an alley." Collins nodded, his arms wrapped around Angel, and Joanne continued. "When you looked into the alley you saw two men and one of them had a knife. Then the man with the knife slit the other man's throat open, looked at you, and started chasing you. A few moments later you ran into a woman, the man slit her throat open, and then told you that you'd die if you said anything." She stopped pacing and faced Collins. "Is that about right?" Collins nodded again and Angel snuggled up to him. "I have another question."

"What?" Collins said.

"Would you be willing to repeat exactly what you told us to a couple of homicide detectives?" The bohemians looked at Collins, waiting for his answer. If he didn't report what he saw, that would be like breaking the law. If he did, he'd be risking his life for two people he didn't even know.

"No," he finally said. "I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

"No?" Joanne asked.

"No."

"No?" Angel said, looking up at her boyfriend while still in his arms.

"No," Collins replied.

"No?" Maureen said just to feel included.

"NO!" Collins shouted.

"Why not?" Roger asked.

"I happen to have a problem with getting my throat slit open. I prefer it closed, thank you very much."

"Collins, have you ever heard of the witness protection program?" Joanne asked.

"That's a great idea, Pookie!" Maureen exclaimed. "Get one of your cop friends to keep Collins safe!"

"That won't be necessary cause I'm not talking to any type of officer of the law," Collins said.

"It's the right thing to do, sweetie," Angel told him.

"I'm not doing it and that's final!"

"I can't believe I agreed to do this," Collins muttered as Joanne led him and the rest of the bohemians into a building and up a flight of stairs on a side of town they'd never been on.

"Where are we, Joanne?" Mimi asked, holding Roger's hand.

"The 27th precinct," Joanne answered. "Welcome."

"Look at all the cops!" Maureen said. She bounced over to one of the detectives. "Hi! I'm Maureen!" The detective stared at her for a long moment. "This is the part where you tell me your name."

"Maureen!" Joanne scolded, pulling Maureen away from the detective. "Sorry about that, Lennie."

"That's quite alright, Joanne," Lennie replied. "I've seen stranger people than her in my day." Lennie's partner came over to him.

"You get anything yet, man?" he asked.

"Hi Ed," Joanne said to Lennie's partner. Ed turned toward her and smiled.

"Hey there, Ms. Jefferson," he said. "It is still Ms. Jefferson, right?"

"Ed now's not the time for flirting," Lennie said.

"He's right," Joanne agreed.

"I'm not flirting, I'm just asking a question," Ed replied. "And while I'm asking you questions, how'd you enjoy our dinner last week?"

"Dinner!?" Maureen shrieked. "You had dinner with my Pookie!? Are you out of your mind!?"

"Maureen, calm down," Joanne said.

"When were you gonna tell me about this!? Joanne, are you leaving me for . . . A MAN!?"

"MAUREEN!"

"WHAT!?"

"It was just dinner."

"That's how it started with us!"

"Did I just cause trouble?" Ed asked.

"HELL YEAH YOU CAUSED TROUBLE!" Maureen shouted. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR TRYING TO STEAL MY POOKIE!" She lunged at Ed, but Collins grabbed her before she could hurt him in anyway. He managed to calm her down, but she was still angry. "I thought you were against going out with other people, Joanne."

"I am," Joanne said. "And it was just dinner. Okay? I'm not planning on leaving you."

"That's the lie I told Mark!"

"Maureen, stop being such a drama queen," Mark said, not wanting to relive the day Maureen left him.

"But it's who I am!"

"Anyway, what brings you here, Joanne?" Lennie asked.

"I have something, that you need," Joanne replied.

"Is it the answer to this case?" Ed asked.

"No. It's a witness." Joanne beckoned to Collins, but he shook his head. "He's just a little nervous." Joanne pulled him to her and kept a tight grip on his arm.

"You know, I didn't' actually see anything," Collins said. "I completely lied about everything."

"Honey, everything's gonna be okay," Angel assured him. "Just tell them what you told us."

"But I don't know them."

"Neither do most of the people we talk to," Lennie interjected. "The people we arrest usually become fonder of us though."

"They're not going to hurt you Collins," Joanne said.

"I'm not worried about them," Collins said, his eyes starting to water. "I'm worried about . . . dying."

"Did someone threaten you because you witnessed these murders?" Ed asked. Collins simply nodded. "Would you be willing to follow me and my partner to an interrogation room and talk about it?" Collins shook his head.

"You sure about that?" Lennie asked. "Cause we've got ways of making you talk."

"Lennie, don't try to scare him," Joanne said. She turned to Collins. "They need you to do this, Collins. Will you? Please?"

"Can Angel come with me?" Collins asked, grabbing Angel's hand.

"Of course," Ed told him.

"Then . . . I'll do it."

"Good choice," Lennie said. "Follow us." He and Ed led the way as Collins and Angel followed close behind. Once they reached the room, Collins took a deep breath and gave Angel's hand a squeeze before entering. "Take a seat." Collins, Angel, and Lennie all sat down.

"Now," Ed began, sitting as well, "tell us, in your own words, what happened."

Third chapter: DONE! :) YAY!

Review please.