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

Spoilers: Season 2, episode 8

DAY 21

Later that afternoon, Linden takes Jack to the airport. She's come to terms with sending him to Chicago to live with her ex, though it's killing her inside.

As they wait in the boarding area, they hear the announcement over the loudspeaker. "We will now continue boarding rows 25-36 on flight 749 to Chicago."

"My row's boarding now," Jack tells her sullenly. He's already asked her why she won't come with him to Chicago. She knows that he's angry, and scared, and confused all at once. She is too.

He stands up and walks quickly toward the gate, with Linden following closely behind him. She calls to him in a low but urgent voice. "Jack! Jack wait! Hey! Hang on." When she doesn't get a response, she grabs his shoulder.

Jack finally turns around. "Mom, get off."

"Listen to me. Listen to me." She puts her hands on his shoulders. "You're strong. You can do this. You are so much stronger than I was when I was your age. And no matter what happens, you will get through it, because… because you are my boy, Jack. You are my baby." She hugs him tightly, before whispering simply, "Bye."

Jack starts walking toward the gate – both of them look like they're going to cry. He stops and looks over his shoulder at her. Though she smiles and nods her head quickly, encouragingly, her face betrays the heartbreak she's feeling. Then he's gone from her sight, through the gate and onto the plane.

Linden strides over to the wall of windows overlooking the tarmac, looking like she may shatter at any second.

Then suddenly, she's not alone. Holder is standing beside her. "Hey. Little man called to say goodbye," he says simply. She nods.

He stands beside her, looking out the window. He knows that under normal circumstances she avoids any physical contact, but because he can see just how much she's hurting, he decides to risk it. When he stretches his hand gently across her back, resting it on her shoulder and rubbing small circles, she doesn't pull away.

Holder

That red-headed nurse told me that Linden had stopped by the hospital while I was asleep this afternoon. She said that Linden had looked pretty shaken up, which ain't surprising, considering the last 24 hours. And then when Little Man called to say goodbye… I knew she'd be hanging on by a thread, if at all. Checked myself out as soon as they'd let me… woulda left even if they'd told me I couldn't. I had to be there.

That look in her eyes when I got there… man, I was surprised she was still standing. Looked like a gentle breeze could have knocked her over. Linden is emotional at the very best of times… it's her strength and her weakness. But sending Little Man to Chicago? I may not have known her for very long, but I know how much that killed her. It was written all over her face. And in her eyes.

I wished there was something I could've done for her, but sometimes all you can do for someone is just being there. I ain't good at a lot of things, but I can do that.

Linden

It's all just too much. I just… I can't.

If I could just do it all better... Be a better mom, instead of hurting my son. Be a better detective, instead of getting my partner captured and beaten.

All of this is my fault. ALL of it.

Somehow no matter how hard I try, it isn't enough. How in the world do I manage to screw up everything?

Ironically, breaking things seems to be the only thing I'm truly good at.

…

If there was one thing that Holder knew, it was that Linden did not relax. She'd already proven it time and time again – and he'd only known her for three weeks. As far as he could tell, she avoided moments to just stop and breathe at all costs. So it came as no surprise to him when, after watching Jack's plane take off and disappear into the clouds, Linden turned towards him and announced "Alright, we have work to do." They were the first words she'd spoken since Holder had arrived beside her at the window, but that didn't bother him. Her gratitude for his presence was all over her face.

The heartbreak that he'd seen in her eyes earlier had been replaced by determination and impatience – the emotions that Holder was accustomed to seeing there. He could tell that a new plan of action was already forming in her mind, and that once set, nothing was going to deter her from following through with it.

Still, to say that the two of them had had a little bit of a crazy day was perhaps the understatement of the year. It had been what? About 14 hours or so since they'd found Holder unconscious in the woods? This was probably the time when normal people would have gone home to rest and recover. But no one had accused them of being normal.

They found Linden's car in the airport parking lot, and climbed in wearily. Darkness was already falling outside. Linden suddenly looked around, confused. "Holder, how did you get here, anyway?"

"Took a cab. Straight from the hospital." She nodded in understanding. If she had to guess, she would say he'd left the hospital against the doctors' advice, based on how he looked. She wondered momentarily how he'd gotten past Liz, his guard dog. She still couldn't believe he had come all the way out to the airport just to be there for her, especially since it had obviously required a lot of effort on his part. It wasn't as though he'd happened to have been in the neighborhood. It was an unfamiliar feeling, this feeling that someone cared.

"You OK, Linden?" His voice broke through her thoughts. She realized that she'd been sitting and staring into space, hadn't even moved to put the keys in the ignition. She shook her head quickly to clear her thoughts, nodding and whispering "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked at him and did her best to smile, as if to prove it.

"Are you OK? Because you look kinda rough," she said to him, half teasingly and half seriously. Anything to turn the attention away from herself.

"Ya know, I feel like I got the shit kicked outta me… but it's all good. Luckily for me, I'm still beautiful." And there was the little boy grin again.

Linden rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, but now her smile was genuine. Same old Holder, even when he looks – and probably feels – like hell, she thought.

"So, let me drop you off at your place so you can get some rest," she offered, finally putting the key in the ignition and starting the car.

"What? So I can let you work this case on your own? I don't think so, Linden. We both know you need my help. I know, you hate to admit it… don't feel bad. I'm just that good." She was pretty sure he said these kinds of things just to get a reaction out of her, and it worked. She hated to admit it, but he really was funny sometimes.

"Shut up, Holder." Her grin and her tone gave away her lack of annoyance. They fell into a comfortable silence, each one lost in thought as they drove away from the hospital and back toward the twists and turns of the case.