Ages:

Ned - 31
Katie - 28
Scott - 24
Asher - 2

Ned leaned against his desk, frowning at the file. Another teenager, brutally murdered.

"Who the fuck is that?" Lucas asked, speaking through a mouthful of potato chips.

Ned didn't look up. "Who?"

"He looks like a twelve-year-old," Lucas said and nudged him with his foot.

He groaned, annoyed, and shoved his foot off his desk. A moment later, he sat up, hastily wiping his hands on his pants, and Ned straightened, too, as LeTrai approached with a tall, stocky black-haired detective beside him. He didn't look twelve, Ned thought, but he didn't look like a detective, either, with his bright eyes and round, pleasant face.

"Fellas, this is Scott O'Neill. You've been waiting for your new partner since Jamison left last month, right Ned?" Letrai looked to Ned, who looked up from his case file finally. "Officer O'Neill, this is Ned Banks. The detective I was talking about."

Scott smiled and held out his hand, and Ned tried not to grimace as they shook hands. Ned knew what this was about. And Lucas looked smug, which means he knew, too. Dammit.

"Officer O'Neill transferred from precinct seventy-three last week," LeTrai told him, "and we're pretty psyched to have him with our unit. I think he'll be a real asset. He's the best rookie to have a mile close to your time Ned." And he clapped Scott on the shoulder, smiling. He looked at Ned. "I've assigned him to be your new partner, Detective. I thought it would be a good pairing."

He pretended not to see Lucas start to smirk. Ned managed a small smile for Scott.

It was his first day, after all. He supposed he could go a little easy on the kid. Katie would tell him to do that. His eyes flicked to an older family photo, one of him, Asher, and Katie at a family barbeque. Her mom had cornered them against the fence to take a nice photo, and they both had smiles on their face as they looked at the camera, while then two-month-old Asher was being propped up so his little face could be seen.

"Great. It's nice to meet you," Ned stood, shaking his hand again as he grabbed his keys. "Follow me."

He updated Scott on his latest case.

It's been his obsession for the last month. Eleven dead. All kids, aged twelve to eighteen, all killed in brutal ways, heads bashed in, strangled, stabbed repeatedly, necks snapped. All found abandoned on side streets. All linked through their murders and otherwise unrelated to each other.

"I can't believe I haven't heard about this on the news," Scott said, looking at the files in the car. "Or even from my college buddy. He's lived here his entire life. I met him when I transferred to Rockland, but I ended up transferring back after finishing my generals."

Ned leaned back in her seat, squeezing the wheel. "Well, people tend to care less about murdered kids when the kids are poor." He looked at the second victim, a little boy with curly blond hair. His throat was slit. He remembered holding Asher so close that night. He'd slept with him and Katie that night. "They're runaways, raised in foster care, abused, from the projects. No one cares about them."

"I know that feeling," Scott replied, voice soft.

He looked at him. "You do?"

"I'm surprised Capt. didn't tell you," Scott muttered. "I was a foster kid. Popped around from how to house from eight to twelve and then I was in the same group home from there on out."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry that happened to you." He said, momentarily glancing back over at Scott.

"It's not a big deal," he muttered. "It's not like I remember my parents that much. Just voices."

"That's all I can remember about my dad too," he said. "He died when I was a kid. Just shot at an ATM. That's why I became a cop."

Scott was quiet when Ned confided in him, but he nodded, so maybe Scott would be a good fit for him after all.

"Ned, stop," Katie muttered in her sleep, his lips touching her shoulder. "You have to go in. You got a call."

"I don't have to do anything," he chuckled, pulling her waist snug into him. He kissed her neck, brushing her tangled hair away. "It was just the lab."

It was not yet five in the morning, so he felt bad for waking her up when his phone rang, but Katie had told him she had to be up soon to get ready for her day anyway.

He laid on his back, sucking in quiet breaths when he felt he curl into him, a soft hand caressing his chest. It felt so good, so safe and reassuring, that he began to drift back into the forgetfulness of sleep. At least, his mind did. His body apparently had other plans.

Her first touch was hesitant like she didn't know he was still awake, but his half-gasped, half-strangled reaction was dramatic enough to drive her to further action, sliding her hand more firmly against his growing erection.

"Well, since you don't have to go in," she whispered, smiling into his chest as she gently unzipped his pants. "But Ned," she looked up at him. "You should invite him over for dinner," and then she took him, in her mouth.

"Okay," he whispered as he slid his hand into her hair. Even with her mouth on him, he still didn't like the guy as much as he could yet. "But not today."

When Scott met him at the station, Ned filled him in on what the lab had told him.

"They found sawdust on the most recent victim," Ned said softly, yawning as he drove down the street. "The same sawdust found on the first victim. They've identified four different warehouses outside town that would make that particular kind of sawdust."

He tried not to let his excitement show at his first real lead in weeks. It's over an hour to drive, and they stopped to fill up his tank.

Scott bought food at Wendy's inside the gas station. Scott had even asked whether he wanted anything, and he shook his head. He returned with a cheeseburger, a carton of french fries, and a Frosty.

"It's never too early for a cheeseburger," Scott explained, smiling.

Ned nodded, smiling a little as he buckled his seatbelt, and pulled out onto the road. "I kind of like you O'Neill. Did you put the address into the GPS?"

Scott nodded. It's quiet for a few minutes as he drove and Scott ate.

"So," his new partner started, dipping a french fry into his Frosty. Ned frowned and his eyes were on the french fry. Was Scott serious about that? God, it reminded of Katie. She did that too. "Haven't you ever tried this? Here —" Scott dipped a french fry and held it out to him, but he refused. "It's actually really good, I promise."

"I've tried it. My wife, she likes her fries like that with a strawberry shake" He said, looking back to the road. "Thanks though."

"So, a wife, huh? I didn't see that coming, even now that I see your ring." Scott chuckled. He'd gotten a bachelor's vibe from his superior, not the settled down and married type, but he guessed that didn't mean he was settled down. "Any kids?"

"Just one so far," Ned chuckled. "Asher is about to turn three now. You okay if I just turn the radio on now and we save the talking for another time?"

"Fine by me," Scott ate another fry, and Ned switched the radio on.

They didn't find much from the warehouses themselves; they're all abandoned.

Ned requested a forensic sweep, though, and his research revealed that the same man owned the four warehouses.

Seth Crabe.

Ned questioned him with Scott, and while his words were pleasant, his stomach was unsettled after the talk was finished. He claimed his company hadn't needed the warehouses for several years, and they'd sat untouched.

"Do you believe a word he said?" Ned asked his partner on the drive home. "Because I didn't."

Scott's face was grim. "Nope."

They visited everywhere in the area that Ned could think to visit, homes for runaways, after-school centers for underprivileged teenagers, shelters for the homeless, and he told every teenager to report any suspicious behavior. He doubted they'd listen, teens hardly did, but runaways, talking to a cop?

He doubted that would ever happen.

He squeezed his stress ball, running his hands through his hair as he sat up, hearing the door to precinct close behind someone. He looked up the paperwork sprawled over his desk to see Katie walking into the station.

The woman sauntered toward him, sitting on his lap. Seduction was what Katie did best, moving into his personal space with just the right look of heat in her eyes and a kiss that came with the smooth touch of her body, poised, just the right blend of relaxation and tension.

"Hey Officer Banks," she whispered, rubbing her hands on his cheeks. "Sorry about having to cut this morning short. I thought I'd come to stop by to see you in repayment."

She was referring to this morning when she'd given him a blowjob, a sly smile on her lips when she thought about it. Their son had cut them short before they could get any further and he'd gone to work to follow his lead with Scott.

"Shouldn't I be apologizing?" He said, knowing she'd been the one to go without a release.

"No, not really. I'm fine," she said, shrugging and pulling on his tie a little. "Can I steal you for a sec?"

"Well, well, you're here to steal my new partner too?" Scott sat in his desk chair, opposite Ned. "What a coincidence."

"It was my wine, bucko. I have the restless toddler at home who doesn't let me have sex anymore." She huffed, rolling her eyes at the man she'd met at the liquor store the night before. "Don't test me. Wait, that's your new partner?"

"So I take it you two have met?" Ned's eyebrows bunched together and then he relaxed, his hand rubbing on Katie's thigh. "I don't mind him."

"Not officially," she said. "I'm not sure if I like him now."

"Scott O'Neill," he said. "From New York's precinct 73. Fresh out of the academy."

"Irish and from the city. Okay, I kind of like him a little more now." She said, looking back at Scott. "I think I've heard your name before from my brother. So maybe… I'll think about forgiving you for last night because this is who I share wine with."

"Ah… see. I never checked for a ring. Just your legs and ass." Scott chuckled. The words had slipped out of his mouth before he'd even had a chance to think them through.

"Wine? When? You ditched me last night," he looked at Katie. "And you checked out my wife's what?"

"Hey now, I do have nice legs and an even nicer ass." She eyed him, smiling a little. "Well, I was going to share it with you but then I got a call from Hannah. Lots of stuff, but this one over here tried to steal the last bottle from me. And then, when I told him no, he suggested we share it over dinner and I told him I already had someone to share wine with."

He kissed her lips, smiling a little before looking back at Scott with a straight face. "Hey man, I like you and all, but Katherine Clancy is all mine. Got it?"

"Clancy? Related to Aaron?" Scott asked.

"I'm his older sister," she nodded.

"Ahh. I see it now. You have the same eyes. You've got nothing to worry about Ned. I could never step on you or my buddy like that. Not again and not when I know how bossy she is or at least as Aaron describes her to be." Scott stood up, walking toward the coffee pot.

Ned laughed and she punched him. He definitely liked when she bossed him around. "Don't worry babe," he said.

"Well excuse me, I'm taking him now." She moved off him and pulled away from him a little, kissing his lips. "I am so so sorry for ditching out on our date last night. Is there any way I can repay you?" She bit her lip and then smiled at him. "I'll do almost anything."

"Mmm… sex." He muttered, leading her toward the break room.

"Yeah, I know. But what else?" They both sat down as Scott came in, opening the fridge. "Like a back rub or we can watch that stupid movie you wanted to rent."

"Time alone," he said, opening the lunch bag Katie had bought him. "What about new lingerie? Something super sexy. I'll spring for that and a weekend away."

She rolled her eyes and stole his bag of chips then. Two could play this game. "Mmm that sounds nice, but how baby? We'd have to take Ash if we went away."

"Well, LeTrai has this hunting cabin. I could ask him to borrow it for the weekend." He said, stealing the chips back. "These are mine. Thank you very much."

"The whole weekend?" She licked the chip dust off her fingers as she watched his face fall a little and smiled. "Okay. I'll try and see if I can talk Asher into a weekend without me. You know how he gets."

"You coddle him too much sometimes," Ned said softly and earned a jab from Scott as he walked by, opening a soda he'd bought in the vending machine. "He's almost three, Katie."

"He's my baby," she whispered. "And you know why."

"I know," he grabbed a hold of her hands and kissed them. "Ash, he'll be fine. We'll get someone to watch him. We always do. Come on. Doesn't one of your siblings owe you a favor?

"Mackenzie does owe me one… Aaron does too, but he's busy." She shrugged.

"There you go! Call Mack. She's seventeen now, right?" He asked.

"Almost eighteen, a legal adult, you know. She'll correct you on it." She laughed, nodding as she looked at her phone and started to type out a message.

"Oh sorry. I'm just excited for a whole weekend of good ole' fashion FU," he started.

She glanced up, gasping and eyes widening as she kicked him under the table. "NED," she shrieked.

"What? I was gonna say fun!" He set his sandwich down and winked at her.

"Yeah right. You mischievous, little twirp…" She sighed, looking back down at her phone.

"And you say I'm the one who is always thinking about that stuff. It's really you," he was just messing with her, standing up and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I can't deal with you. I have to get back to school. My lunch break is almost over," she said, standing up.

"Yeah. I gotta get back to my desk too." He packed his lunch back up in the bag. "I'll finish this out there because I want to try and get out on time. I have to meet deadlines so I can get off tonight, let alone this weekend. Love you.

"Ugh. That's annoying. Love you too." She looped her arm in his as they walked out. "Let me know if you'll be late. I'll put dinner in the oven.

"I will text you," he kissed her again, tapping her ass in the tight leggings she was wearing as she turned away. "So tight babe. Love it."

Katie just rolled eyes and walked out proudly, just the way she knew Ned liked it.