many questions! answers tba

Good Cop wanted to ask Benny what had gone wrong, but he was dreading the answer, so he sat on the question until they got home, where they could talk in private.

But even once they were in the apartment, the words stuck to his tongue, and he quietly retreated to the bedroom while Benny puttered around in the kitchen. He lay down on top of the covers, curled loosely on his side. The wall in his head was still solid and silent, and he didn't try approaching it again.

"Hey, G?" asked a cautious voice behind him.

Good Cop didn't feel like moving, but he still turned a little to look. Benny was hovering in the doorway, holding a bowl with a spoon in it.

"I made chicken noodle soup yesterday," Benny explained. "I thought I'd heat up some for you."

Good Cop smiled weakly and pushed himself into a sitting position before accepting the bowl. It smelled good. He sipped at it, careful of the temperature.

Benny settled on the edge of the bed next to him. "I cooked for Bad Cop when we first met, too," he said. "He didn't look like he'd been eating properly."

Tasty as the soup was, Good Cop suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. He lowered the bowl, staring into it. "We never really talked about what happened while I was gone," he said softly. "How was he?" When Benny looked reluctant to answer, Good Cop added, "Please. I need to know."

Benny looked down at his hands in his lap. "He was doing really badly," he said. "This apartment was a real mess the first time I visited."

"You cleaned it up," Good Cop said. "He told me about that."

Benny smiled faintly. "He was having a lot of trouble coping with his past, and what Business did."

"The Kragle?" Good Cop asked.

"Among other things," Benny replied. "I don't think I'm the one you should be talking to about this, though."

"He's not talking to me," Good Cop said. "I can't figure out why. He's just blocked himself off. It's like he trying to hide something." Working up his courage, he asked, "Benny, what went wrong when I switched with him yesterday?"

Benny looked surprised. "I was hoping you could tell me. I just saw you pass out."

Good Cop frowned. "I can't remember anything after he told you that I wanted to meet you." That wasn't quite right, though. "I do remember going into the bathroom. We have scars now. He wouldn't tell me how they happened. But that's it."

Benny's face creased in concern. "You don't know?"

Good Cop shook his head. "Do you?"

Benny nodded wordlessly.

"How?" Good Cop began to ask, but something slammed down on his mind. Spots danced across his vision. The bowl slipped from his fingers as he reached up to clutch his head, and he doubled over, gasping. Benny was panicking, trying to find out what was wrong while simultaneously trying to do something about the spilled soup.

The pain receded, and things began to come back into focus. "I'm okay," he wheezed. "I'm okay. Sorry."

"Oh my god, dude, don't apologize," Benny said, hand pressed against Good Cop's forehead as he searched the cop's eyes.

Good Cop blinked, and suddenly became very aware of the hot soup soaking into his pants. Cursing up a storm, he rolled off the bed and wrestled with the belt, shoving them down and hopping out of the legs. Then he remembered Benny was there and glanced over at the spaceman. Benny had his hand over his mouth and a distressed look on his face like he wanted to laugh, but also really didn't want to.

"What?" Good Cop asked irritably. His head was still aching a little, and his thighs stung from the near-burn.

"I just," Benny said, his expression a battle between worry and amusement. "Bad Cop almost never swears. And-" He was cracking. "-I don't think I've ever heard that many swear words at once."

Good Cop put his hands on his hips and gave Benny a very stern look, but Benny began to laugh for real, and Good Cop realized he probably didn't cut an exceptionally intimidating figure in his underwear. "I," he said stiffly, "am going to put some pants on, and you-" He emphasized the word by pointing at Benny, "-are going to the other room while I do so."

Benny put his hands up in concession, pursing his lips to hold back laughter, and grabbed the soup bowl as he left.

Good Cop ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated the noodles strewn over the bedspread. Oh, well. He could worry about that later. There was a far more pressing matter at hand. He dug a pair of sweatpants out of the bureau and pulled them on, then went to the bathroom. There was still blood on the edge of the counter where he'd hit his head. Another thing he'd have to clean up. He closed the bathroom door and locked it. This was going to require a bit of peace and solitude. He lowered the lid on the toilet and sat down.

He shut his eyes.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale-

He opened his eyes. A grassy field stretched out below him, speckled with wildflowers swaying in the warm breeze. He was standing atop a small hill, beneath a large tree. In one direction, he could see the speck of his family home, a thin ribbon of smoke rising from the chimney.

This was their mindspace. The place they could go when they wanted to talk face to face. If he was going to find Bad Cop anywhere, it was going to be here.

He turned to look in the other direction, and his jaw dropped.