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

Spoilers: Season 3, episode 8

Linden is in the hallway outside Danette's storage locker when she hears Holder over the police radio, saying they found Joe Mills' cab on the ground floor.

"Think he's got another body in the trunk. We found blood all over the bumper," Holder says.

Linden turns immediately and starts running down the hall as if the floor is on fire. She has only just realized what Holder's going to find inside the trunk, and she desperately wants to spare her friend the pain of being the one to discover it.

"DON'T OPEN IT!" she screams, though he can't hear her from there. "Excuse me!" she calls as she pushes past the people in the hallways. "Coming through."

Downstairs, the unis are having trouble getting the trunk open. One of them says that it's stuck. Holder pulls a sheet off the front of the cab while Linden runs as fast as she possibly can to try to stop Holder from opening the trunk.

One of the unis is attempting to pry the trunk open with a crowbar. "Give me that thing," Holder tells him. He's determined to get the damn thing open. As he does so, Linden runs furiously down the stairs. Holder uses the crowbar to smash the driver's side front window instead, then leans inside to release the trunk. He leans back out of the window slowly, to avoid the glass, and stands up.

Linden is still yelling, more and more emphatically the closer she gets. "HOLDER! STOP!" I have to get there in time, she thinks. "Move! Coming through!" she tells the people between her and Holder as she runs through the crowd.

"Don't open the trunk!" she calls to him as she rushes forward. She stops a few car lengths away as he walks back toward the trunk, which is now ajar, Holder having released the latch from the front seat. He's almost next to it and doesn't have to move far if he wants to look inside. Linden's panting from the exertion of running all the way to the ground floor. They look at each other, her eyes pleading with him to walk away.

The look on Holder's face reflects the confusion he feels at Linden's vehement warnings. "What?" He knows it must be something serious just from looking at Linden's face.

"Just come over here," she tells him, praying that he'll comply without questioning her, despite the fact that doing so wouldn't be at all like him – or like her either, really. Holder turns to look at the trunk lid, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Please, Holder. You… you don't need to be here." She's pretty much begging him to walk away now. He knows that he should probably listen to Linden, she must have a good reason for acting so freaked out… and yet, he can't. He looks alarmed, looking back and forth between her and the still mostly closed trunk.

"Holder, please don't."

He slowly lifts the trunk lid, which creaks loudly. He freezes in place, just staring. She comes to stand beside him but doesn't look in the trunk, instead turning to look at him. Only after she's studied his expression and tried her best to stand in front of him, then moved back to the side when that doesn't work, does she turn to look inside.

They recognize the word "Faith" and the heart with wings on Bullet's wrist.

Linden

Just this once, I wanted to spare him from the gory details. The two of them had gotten close, surprisingly close in the short time we've been looking for Callie. He saw something in her, I could tell. She annoyed the hell out of me, but she was a good kid. Holder had some affinity with her though, it was obvious. He wanted to save her from the life she'd ended up in… of course, we wanted to save them all from themselves, but you can't force those kids to make better choices, they have to make them for themselves… all you can do is give them better options to choose from.

Bullet had a good head on her shoulders, she was just in a bad place. But if any of 'em had a shot of making it, I thought it was her. CRAP. Poor Holder, he's not gonna take this well.

Holder

Breathe, Holder. In and out. Focus. Focus on breathing, on staying upright. Breathe.

…

Holder was staring into the trunk in horror. Linden looked too, but after identifying Bullet by the picture on her wrist, she couldn't bear to look at her mangled body anymore. She grabbed Holder's arm, a rare gesture for her, and tugged on him. He didn't seem to be able to tear his eyes away from the girl in front of him.

"Holder," she said firmly, knowing that it was her turn to be the strong one, "Holder, come on. Come with me." He didn't move, but she could feel that he wasn't resisting with all his strength, so she tugged harder. "Holder," she repeated, louder this time, "look at me." He turned his head slowly, then his body, as if he were moving in slow motion, until he was facing her. The way he was looking down at her, she felt as though his gaze might actually be going straight through her. He was staring directly at her but didn't seem to see her at all.

The unis stood around, ready to move in but waiting at a respectful distance until the two were clear of the scene.

"Holder," she repeated, firmly but gently at the same time. It was as if it was the first time he noticed that she was standing in front of him. She could see that she finally had his attention, or she at least seemed to. "Come on," she said in a voice just above a whisper, pulling his arm and guiding him away from the gruesome scene. This time he didn't resist as she led him to the wall, which he leaned against heavily, pushing his right arm and shoulder against it so that he faced away from the taxi. His breathing was shaky.

Linden released his arm but stayed planted directly in front of him, looking up at him with concern. His eyes had fallen closed and his head had dropped to his chest. He seemed to be concentrating pretty hard on breathing.

"Holder?" His eyes opened slowly and he raised his head just enough to look at her, which wasn't much since she was so much shorter than he was. He didn't say a word, but he didn't need to. His eyes said it all. "Let's go. Let's get out of here," she said. He didn't move, just stared at her blankly. She sighed, her heart breaking for him, and she reached out slowly and grabbed his arm again.

It was hard to see him like this, so clearly in pain. "Come on, Holder," she said, pulling him gently but firmly away from the taxi and towards the exit that opened out onto a wide hallway, which in turn led to the main doors of the building. Once outside, she steered them to where they'd parked their patrol car. She was almost afraid that if she let go of him, he'd simply stop moving, as if the inertia of her movement was the only thing propelling him forward. She managed to get him into the passenger seat of the car – he got himself in willingly, if somewhat robotically – and situated herself in the driver's seat, as usual.

She looked across the front seat at him as he stared out the window. "Holder?" She knew she should leave him alone, but his silence was unnerving her. She'd never found quiet between them unnerving before this, but this time it was almost unbearable. Still, she couldn't come up with a single thing to say. There was nothing she could say that would help whatsoever.

He looked at her then, barely turning his head. She thought he seemed to be focused on her… but it was hard to be sure.

"Thanks, Linden," he whispered.

She smiled sadly, nodding her head ever so slightly. "We've gotta go to the station. You up for it?"

He nodded back at her without a word, knowing that it was part of the procedure. Linden had had to go in after having been kidnapped, for god's sake, so of course they had to go in and handle the paperwork. He tugged his seatbelt across his chest as she did the same to hers, and she started the car without another word.

She glanced over to see that Holder was now staring out the passenger side window blankly, and she shook her head as she put the car into drive and pulled out onto the street. The unis would handle this part. She figured she could fill out all the paperwork for both of them, if necessary, since they'd been there together, but that Skinner would expect him to at least be there to put in an appearance and answer questions.

She maneuvered the car through the city streets, and finally pulled up in front of the coffee stop down the block from the station, where they frequently ended up, at all hours of the day and night. She shifted the car into park and looked over at him, but he appeared to be lost in his own world. "I'll be right back, okay?" He didn't respond, so she just removed the keys from the ignition and got out of the car, jogging to the door.

She came back out not two minutes later with two coffees. Climbing back into the car, she found him in the exact same position she'd left him in, and wondered if he'd even noticed her absence. "Hey," she said, elbowed him gently and handed him one of the cups. He looked surprised but took the coffee, looking at her for the first time since they'd left the storage building. She gave him a small smile, and he returned it weakly.

"Thanks, Linden."

She nodded at him and they drove on to the station, eager to get the rest of it over with.