The Danger Within
Chapter 3
In the minutes that had ticked by since his phone call to Steve ,Mike had managed to calm down. He hadn't meant to be so tough on the boy but hearing his sleepy voice made him see red and before he knew it he had unleashed hell over the phone. Now that he had calmed down and had time to think he began to regret his outburst. After all it wasn't like Steve to be so disorganized when it came to work. Sure he could be late sometimes but he never missed appointments or meetings and he had never met anyone who could get from bed to work as quick as Steve could when the need arose. No, there was definitely something not right with Steve at the minute and the more he thought of how drawn and subdued Steve was last night he was determined to find out what that something was. If Steve was sick, Mike knew that he wouldn't volunteer that information readily. That was one characteristic of Steve's that irked the older detective. He couldn't understand why Steve couldn't just admit to being ill. After all everyone had their off days and they were nothing to be ashamed of but over the three years that Mike had known Steve he had practically had to place the young inspector under house arrest just to get him to take an occasional sick day even when he was almost fit to drop on occasion. He decided to study the young man carefully when he arrived and vowed not to lose his temper again. Having poured himself another cup of coffee he decided to wait at Steve's desk but after more minutes went by Mike found himself pacing up and down and worrying about the young man he had grown so fond of. Just as he was going to pick up the phone on Steve's desk to ring him again he heard the door to the bullpen open and turning around he was relieved to see Steve walk in.
Steve walked as confidently as he could toward his desk knowing full well that Mike by now would be watching him intently searching for visible clues as to what had him so late. "Hey Mike, Look I'm really sorry for this morning.I never heard my alarm. Just let me get my reports together and we'll go talk to the Captain." He immediately busied himself sorting papers on his desk and hoped he had come across as normal as possible. "Nice of you to join me. I hope whatever delayed you wasn't too upset when you had to bail out at such short notice" Mike replied keeping his tone lighthearted,all the while watching Steve for his reaction and trying to ascertain if that was the reason for his tardiness this morning. "Very funny. Well I hate to disappoint you Mike but the only company I had last night was my pillow and to satisfy your curiosity I was late getting to bed because something unexpected came up." Steve couldn't help but smile as he conveyed his cleverly worded excuse. Little did Mike know how close to the truth it was. Mike noted that while Steve appeared fine and he was smiling he was perhaps a little paler than normal and there was still something that niggled at Mike. You can't fool me that easily buddy boy, Mike thought to himself. I'm going to keep a close eye on you today.