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 10

DAY 23

Linden wakes up in the same psychiatric ward where she'd ended up during the Seward case. Regi had brought her in that time, after a scared and worried Jack had called her. This time, she has no recollection of how she got there. She only knows that she needs to get out.

After a heated conversation with a psych ward staff member and Lt. Carlson, Holder is able to see her - but only as a visitor. He's not quite sure how she ended up there either, but it had something to do with someone back at the casino. That much he knows.

He walks carefully over to where she is sitting, staring into space, and sits down next to her.

"Hey. How're you holding up, Linden?" He's speaking very softly.

Linden, even medicated, is still herself enough to skip the small talk, though her speech slurs slightly. "We don't have a lot of time. What do you got?"

Holder continues to speak quietly. "There was a break in at the waterfront the night of Rosie's death. Yannick Kovarski's guy. He gets arrested. Ames doesn't press charges. An hour later, we got Ames cancelling his weekend plans, heading to the casino. To meet with Chief Jackson most likely."

"And someone from City Hall. I saw a white key card," she reminds him, the slur in her voice again making the drugs in her system obvious.

"So they were plants, at the waterfront. And it went wrong when Kovarski's guy got arrested. We're close, Linden." Holder pauses, only now realizing how drugged she really is, and that she's not completely with him. "Hey," he whispers gently. "Hey, look at me."

Linden tries to focus on Holder, but finds that she can't. "I saw a white key card from City Hall," she repeats.

Holder stares at her, worried, unsure exactly what to do, only knowing that he needs to do something. It's painful to see his partner like this, reduced to an almost zombie-like state. The same partner who was usually so full of fire.

"What'd they do to you?" he asks her tentatively, afraid of the answer.

"Please don't leave me here." It comes out as barely a whisper, one full of desperation. It's answer enough to make his skin crawl.

He watches her worriedly before he speaks again. "I'm gonna get you out of here," he promises her.

Just then a nurse taps him on the shoulder. "Sir, it's time," comes a voice behind him. He reaches back to gently swat the hand away, signaling for just another few seconds. He doesn't take his eyes off of Linden. "Just hang tight for a couple hours. I'm not leaving you in here. You hear? I'm not leaving you here." It is a promise as much to himself as it was to her, and he can't be sure she even hears him.

Linden stares straight ahead. Holder is being ushered out of the visiting area, but he's already forming a plan to get Linden out.

…

Holder

That place gives me the creeps. Seriously freaky bad vibes. It's like those people are there, but they're… not. The worst is seeing Linden in there. Linden, who's sharp as a tack every day of the week, never without a biting remark or a deadpan joke, no matter if she's eaten or slept or not. And sure, she's a goddamn pain in the ass most of the time, but I'd rather her be a pain in the ass than see that glassy look in her eyes. I could hear her pleading for help getting out of that place just by looking at her.

I hated to leave her there even long enough to figure out what to do. I don't think she's in danger, necessarily – though someone clearly got her in there under false pretenses, so I can't completely feel safe that she's locked up there, where they have complete control over her – it's just… it's not her in there. And I'm usually the one person who can – and does – help her, when no one else gives a damn at all. I'm going to do it this time, too. I just have to figure out what… and how.

Linden

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! What the hell happened? Ohhhhh, my head…. Damn those drugs they gave me! I need to be able to think clearly! I just want them out of my system… The last thing I remembered I was in the casino and Holder told me to turn off my flashlight… except, my flashlight was off. That's when I knew there was someone else up there with me, and that something bad was about to happen. And then… nothing.

Someone did this to me, brought me here. Which means we're close, really close. I just have to get these people to let me OUT of this place… Everything about this place makes my skin crawl. Worst of all, between the drugs and the damn psychologist prodding me with questions, all I can think about is last time. She wants me to talk about the Seward case. It's like she wants me to go crazy all over again. I don't even want to think about the Seward case. It's over. I've put it behind me the best I could. Not only did it consume me that time, and almost cause me to lose what little I had back then, but it was how I wound up here last time. This terrible place… why the hell would I want to dig all that up again?

That time, maybe I needed to be here. I really had started to lose myself. But not this time. Yes, I'm in deep on this case and yes, I probably care too much about solving Rosie's murder – though really, someone should give a damn about the truth of what happened to the poor girl – and not enough about myself, but I've managed to keep in touch with reality, at least. Sure, I'm plenty fucked up. I always have been! But I'm fine. This time, I'm here because someone doesn't want this case solved and they're using my past against me, to discredit me. I know it. I just have to find a way to prove it – which I will. We will.

Because this time, whether I like it or not – and I haven't quite decided yet – this time, I'm not alone.

…

After only a brief phone conversation, Rick had shown up later that same afternoon, all the way from Sonoma, to sign Sarah out of the psych ward. Holder had to give him credit for that. However, in the waiting area he had filled out the paperwork and then turned and left before Sarah even walked through the door – but not before she had seen him. That was kinda fucked up as far as Holder was concerned.

"I'll help get her out, but I can't be involved anymore. She's your responsibility now," were Rick's exact words to Holder, before he turned and left without a backwards glance at the woman who had been his fiancé only a few weeks before. Holder wasn't glad for his partner's pain, but he was glad that a guy that would give up on her like that was out of her life. It was definitely for the best.

After signing discharge papers and collecting her belongings, Linden had emerged through a locked door into the lobby. Holder had seen her eyes searching the room for Rick, had noticed her face fill with disappointment when she realized that he was no longer there. Then she looked up and saw Holder waiting for her at the other end of the waiting area. Her face changed as she tried to rearrange it into a smile for him, despite her obvious disappointment. Sure, she had basically dumped the guy without much discussion, but rejection was rejection, and Holder knew how it stung. Still, he was there, and he hoped that his presence would comfort her. They walked out of the waiting room, out of the building and into the crisp air together without a word.

Linden stopped at the bottom of the broad steps in the front of the building. Holder halted next to her. She was still feeling the effects of the drugs, and trying to process what had just happened. "So… he signed me out, and then… he left?" Holder was surprised that Linden was even asking. It wasn't like her to broach touchy subjects on purpose. She looked at him, and he nodded only very slightly. "How did he even know I was here?"

"I called him," Holder replied honestly. "I talked to a bunch of people before I figured out who could get you out of there, and then to figure out how to get in touch with him." He paused and then continued, "And whatever you think of him, Linden, I gotta tell you that when I told him what was going on, the guy got on a plane right away." Holder paused again, unsure if he should say more. This time it was Linden's turn to read his mind.

"But let me guess, he said that he's done doing me favors?" She looked him in the eye, but her expression told him that she was braced for an answer that she didn't want to hear. He watched her whole body tense in anticipation.

Holder tried to force his mouth into some semblance of a smile as he sighed and said "Well, let's just say I'm hoping not to need anyone to bail you out of the psych ward again," trying to wrap the uncomfortable truth – that Rick was really and truly done with her – in a more palatable, less hurtful package. Linden looked away and took a few quick breaths to steady herself, nodding her head rapidly in understanding. She was trying to absorb this new information and then let it roll off her back, so to speak, but it wasn't easy for her. She knew that it was a rejection that she had caused, but it didn't make it easier. It never did, really, but that was what she always steeled herself against for just this reason.

Holder had another flash of what was going through her mind – or though he did, anyway – so he gave her a minute to steady herself before he spoke. She was still looking down at her feet, taking deep breaths. "Hey Linden?" he said, then waited until he had her attention. She looked up at him without a word, and her eyes seemed to reveal an emptiness behind them. "I'm still here."

She smiled then, a genuine smile like the one she had given him in Gil's storage locker. "Yeah," she whispered, not dismissively, not even sadly. The earnestness in her voice took Holder by surprise. "Thanks," she said simply. And that was enough, because they understood each other.

He smiled back at her, this unlikely partner of his, and they walked to the car together without another word. One way or another, it would be OK.