Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or ideas from The Killing. It's all just way too much fun.

Spoilers: Season 1, day 1

DAY 1

Linden and Holder are at Discovery Park. A few items had been recovered, but there's no body to examine.

"You find anything else, mark it, don't move it, and call in Sex Crimes, this is theirs for now."

"Yo! We got here first!" As far as Holder's concerned, they're just getting started.

"Yeah, and we don't got a body."

"Not yet."

"You wanna follow it up, go for it."

"You my ride, Linden."

"So I'll drop you off at the station. I need to finish packing up."

"I thought you were done. Flight's not til 9:00, right? I won't let you miss it. Promise."

Holder

My first day in Homicide and I got put on a case almost as soon as I walked in the door! Not even time to unpack one box, barely enough time to make small talk with Linden, who's apparently the human pitbull. It's perfect – I sure didn't become a cop to sit behind a desk. Gotta be where the action is. I'm hoping there's something more to this case... not much to go on so far, but you never know. The busier I am, the less I think about other things. Temptations, old habits, things that got me here in the first place.

So Oakes told me to ride with Linden, so she could "show me how to work a scene," and she was not happy to be sent out to the park. She was even less happy about investigating a case that so far don't have a body to go with it. Some kids had found an ATM card and a sweater there this morning. I hope this turns out to be something, though. I just need the chance to prove myself – to everyone – like, now. I can feel their eyes on me, wondering what I got transferred up here for… I hate that feeling.

One thing I know already, Linden don't seem to like me too much. Course, she don't know nothing about me. Then again, she don't seem too happy with nobody. I mean, I get it, who wants to start doing real work on a case on their last day at a job? So she's pissed. And yeah, I guess she was in a hurry to get back to the station since she knew she was gonna hand off the case in a few hours anyway. Who cares, right? I mean, I've never been like that, but some people sure are. Guess that's why I was suited for undercover – no problem putting myself all the way into a case. Eating, sleeping and breathing it. She don't seem too broken up about it being her last day, or the fact that she's not gonna know how this one ends. Me, I'd get curious. But then, it sounds like she's got a good thing where she's headed.

Come to think of it, for a department of people who all think they're seeing her for the last time, no one seems to have noticed. I mean, it's a precinct full of tough guys, but not one person has even wished her good luck, bon voyage, sayonara or whatever. I heard they had a party for her already. I guess that counts for something… but still. You'd think if you were seeing someone who you'd worked with for years for the last time, you'd say goodbye. Maybe it's just me? Damn, I dunno… Maybe they know something about her that I don't. Or maybe that says a lot about her – the fact that no one seems like they're gonna miss her. That's pretty sad.

So she wanted me to ride all the way back to the station with her only to get another car and come all the way back out here. Seriously? She can't just hang out for a second? I can investigate it without her, she can just stand and watch me work, observe my skills, but she don't gotta waste my time. I mean, she's a detective…she should be looking for clues or something! Whatever, she'll be outta here soon. Not gonna let her get under my skin.

Linden

I seriously can't believe Oakes put me on the rotation on my last day. My last day! I mean, I guess someone has to babysit Holder. He's right about that, though, the guy is beyond clueless! It's interesting to see what his version of "working a scene" looks like. He doesn't seem like a guy that has much in the way of finesse or people skills or whatever you wanna call it. This job requires a lot of it, since so many people will only give you information if you look like a person they can relate to. That they can trust. It's hard to feel much confidence in someone who looks like he should be a game show host or a used car salesman.

I just want to get out of here and on the plane. I didn't want to start investigating this case. I know myself, and I don't want to get sucked in. I promised myself, and Rick, that I wouldn't do that again. And I know that I have a tendency to get too involved in my cases. To care too much. I can't seem to help it, it's just what I'm good at. It's better if I just walk away before the wheels in my head start turning. So of course, Holder wants to hang out and interview people. Figures. But whatever, it's not my problem, and after today I never have to deal with any of it again.

Except… I'm already curious. It doesn't take much. It's taking everything in me to keep insisting we go back to the station… I'm sure if I stayed a few days I could show Holder how it's all done… maybe even close the case… No! I'm not going there.

What was it Holder said to me earlier? Is that why you're running away Linden, because you don't know no more? Fuck him! That just proves that he doesn't know me! I'm not running from something, I'm going towards something… something really positive. I am NOT running away. I've done a lot of that in my life, but not this time.

It'll be nice to have some peace and quiet in Sonoma. Away from all of this death and darkness.

…

The mood of the day had changed significantly from the "maybe this is something, maybe it's not" atmosphere at Discovery Park. After interviewing Mitch Larsen, and discovering that Mitch and Stan's teenage daughter hadn't been seen since Friday night, it was as though what had seemed like two possibly insignificant items found in the park might actually be part of a much larger, much more serious puzzle.

There was still no body, but it was looking more and more like there was a case, and that there would be a body sooner or later. Sarah Linden felt the familiar twinge, the one she always got when the wheels were turning at the beginning of a new case, her mind moving a million miles a second. Of course, a case like this was horrible. But solving these cases, this was what she was good at. The problem, of course, was that this was her last day, and a case like this was not going to be wrapped up by six o'clock. Still, that wasn't her problem. She repeated this over and over to herself in order to try to kill the familiar feeling, almost a high, that starting a new case always gave her.

Holder, while of course not glad that something terrible appeared to have happened to a seventeen year old girl, was glad for the opportunity that a "real case" would provide him. Unlike for Rosie Larsen, for him, this counted as being in the right place at the right time. He sure would be glad when Linden was gone, and he could be the lead on the case though. She was definitely bossy. Good instincts, but bossy nonetheless. That icy look, the one that said "Just get out of my way and let the grown-ups do our work," that she kept giving him wasn't helping him either.

The ride from the Larsens' to Ft. Washington High School, where Rosie was a senior, and where they were headed to continue the investigation, was a tense one. Linden drove, staring straight ahead, and offering nothing in the way of small talk. Holder attempted to engage her, knowing that this was probably a futile attempt, but he had never been one to back down from a challenge. He liked to think he had a way with people.

"So, what you think so far? What's the famous Linden gut-instinct telling you?" Holder asked her, only partially sarcastically.

"I think this case is going to be a big one. I think that it's going to be too much for your first Homicide case. And I think that when I'm gone, they're going to pass this one on to someone with more experience," she replied dryly, glaring at him out of the corner of her eyes as she drove. Even though she hadn't fully looked at him, he could feel that icy stare again. He could've been wrong, but it almost looked like she'd enjoyed saying that to him.

Holder sucked in a long breath before replying. He watched her with a mixture of surprise and skepticism. How likely was that to happen, anyway? Did she actually mean all that, or was she just being nasty? "Damn Linden, don't hold back or nothing, tell me how you really feel."

They rode the rest of the way to the school in silence.