So this is what came of the idea that I had when I was playing through the first city of Criminal Case. It contains slight spoilers for the third chapter of the fifth case, and is slightly AU (in ways that will be revealed in-chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer - No matter how hard I wish, I will never own Criminal Case, nor be affiliated in any way with Pretty Simple.

"For the last time, Bart, stop lying to me!"

I leaned against the wall of the interrogation room, watching as my partner grew angrier by the second, the younger man sitting across the table from him shrinking back in his chair in fright. "I swear I'm not!"

"Cut the crap, Bart! We know you were talking to him, we found your number in his apartment! Tell us what we want to know, now, or I swear I will end your business once and for all!"

"That's completely different! He's one of my best clients; he just needed a fix to relax! I swear; that's the only reason he contacted me!"

"Why the hell didn't you tell us this before?" the blonde-haired interrogator demanded.

"It didn't seem relevant, alright?" the younger man responded, now clearly panicked by the fury that he could feel radiating from the older detective.

"It's not your job to decide what the hell's relevant information for us to know or not, Williams! This is the kind of thing that you're supposed to tell us, remember?"

"I'm sorry!"

I sighed, pushing myself off of the wall and striding over to the table, placing a comforting hand on my partner's shoulder. "Jones"

As the older man glanced up at me questioningly, I gestured towards the door. "Why don't you take a few minutes to calm down, get some fresh air, splash some water on your face or something? I've got this"

"You sure, Josh?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't sure".

My brown-haired partner grinned, nodding. He got to his feet and walked over to the door that led out into the Precinct corridor, opening it before slipping through and letting it close behind him. I slipped into the seat across from Bart, placing a plain manila file on the table between us. "I'm sorry for my partner's attitude, Bart".

He shrugged. "It's alright. I'm used to it".

"Jeez. Just accept the apology when it's offered, will ya?" I joked.

He chuckled lightly, and I could almost feel the tense atmosphere left in the interrogation room by Jones lessening. "Alright, fine. I'll take the stupid apology. Don't say that I never do you any favours, yeah?"

"On the contrary, I seem to be the one doing you most of the favours. Which is ironic, considering your job is to give information to me and my team that will actually help us catch the real bad guys" I retorted.

He scowled. "Don't remind me".

Deciding that it was time to get back to the matter at hand, and focus on the case we were currently working on, I sighed, tapping the file lightly with one finger. "Time to get talking, Bart".

"But we're already talking".

I resisted the urge to chuckle. This was important. "You know what I mean. It's time to talk about why Mikhail Levin was talking to you in the first place".

"But I just told your partner…"

I nodded calmly. "Yes, and I do appreciate you telling him what you did, believe me. But the thing is, Bart, I'm going to need a lot more information than that to go on if my team and I are going to be able to finish solving this case, and give Anton Levin the closure he deserves".

The informant across from me sighed, nodding. "On the one condition that whatever I tell you, no-one finds out that I have told you anything. It would be bad for my image if people found out I was talking to you" he countered.

I chuckled. "Image? Your image is of a drug dealer, my friend. Your job is to help us catch criminals. You and I both know that, and I know that you're not as stupid as you act sometimes. So just tell me what I need to know and you can get out of here".

I knew that saying he acted like he was stupid was cruel of me, but sometimes it was the truth. And I needed to know what information he had for me. Badly. "Now, Bart! Why was your number in Mikhael Levin's apartment?"

"He just found out about his girlfriend's affair, he was freaking out and needed a fix to relax! I swear that's all!"

I nodded, getting to my feet and pushing my chair in. "So Eva was wrong after all then. Mikhael did know... Thank you, Bart, you've been most helpful. You're free to go".

The dark-haired informant leaped immediately from his seat, scurrying out of the interrogation room and down the hall in the opposite direction to the one Jones had gone in, shooting me a brief goodbye as he ran past me. I shook my head, chuckling to myself as I stepped into the corridor and shut the door behind me before walking quickly back to the bullpen, just in time to catch Jones coming out of the break room. "Did I just see Williams running past?" he queried.

I grinned. "Yeah. He told me everything I wanted to know, so I let him go".

My partner leaned back against his desk, exhaling. "So, what did he tell you?"

"Mikhail lied to us".

Surprised, my partner glanced up at me. "About what?"

"He knew about Eva's affair. He was freaking out and needed a fix to relax. That's why he called Bart".

Jones flashed me a brief grin. "He can't deny it now! C'mon, partner, let's go get him".

Double-checking that my badge was clipped to my belt, and that my service weapon was securely holstered, I followed my partner to the door. It was time to end this once and for all.

So there we go. Love to hear your thoughts or anything of the sort, especially about what, if anything, I can improve on. Please leave a Review (even if it's just to tell me you liked the two songs I recommended with my first chapter).

Speaking of which, the two songs for this update are:

Little Wonders, by Rob Thomas

Iris, by Goo Goo Dolls.