A/N: I fixed this chapter, one important thing got cut off.
"I can't believe that I threw up in front of Malloy." Larry tugged at his shirt. "Look at this, its soaked. I'm sweating like a pig."
Not quite ready to comfort Kasak, Jim laughingly replied "At least you hit the waste basket."
"My hands are shaking and I think I'm going to vomit again." Larry sat on the steps, holding his head in his hands
"I recommend against throwing up on his steps." Larry still needed to feel the fear of both Pete and what the rookie almost did tonight.
"Did you have to bring me here?" He turned sideways to see the still standing Reed. "That man is terrifying!"
Jim nodded, "He is also right. As for bringing you here, you weren't listening to me. Is your mother ready to lose a son to stupidity?"
The rookie shook his head, his body still shaking, either from Pete's lecture or the cold, most likely both. Malloy had that effect on people sometimes.
Jim patted Larry on the shoulder, pulled him up and led him to Adam-12, where they spent half an hour discussing the events of the day until he was sure that Larry finally understood. It was then that Larry brought up something else that was said in Pete's apartment.
"You called him Partner". He spoke with an undertone of accusation.
"He is my partner. Nothing has changed that." Jim couldn't fathom calling anyone else "Partner".
"Then, what am I?"
O~O~O
Kasak's question echoed in the squad car all night as the duo answered endless calls. It was one of those nights where the dispatcher was giving out the next call as soon as they cleared from the previous call. They handled burglaries, drunk drivers, car accidents, and kids sneaking into unfinished houses to find a quiet place to have some Boone's farm wine and make out. They couldn't buy a break and deep down, Jim was happy with the diversions.
Larry's question, asked in a whisper, rang in Jim's head like an owl screeching in the night. Memories of the years he and Pete had spent together during the past five years clashed in his head. Images he could never forget; Pete's face when Steve Deal took him out of the bus to kill him, sitting in the Ale and 'Wich the night he had killed that young sniper, the terror he felt riding in the back seat of the bank robbers' car, praying that a miracle would happen and he wouldn't be dead soon. Pete was always there for him even when they weren't together, Jim always felt like his partner was by his side.
Jim knew the answer but he didn't want to let go of the fantasy of him and Pete, side by side in Adam12.
Once in the locker room, Jim quickly changed into his regular clothes, slipping out before Larry could confront him. He needed to talk to Pete, but reason sank into his head enough to know that neither Pete nor Sally would welcome a visit at 1:30 in the morning. Still, he needed answers and the next best source was sitting in the Watch Commanders' office. He didn't have the history with Mac that Pete had, but he was a friend. More than that, he had answers. Jim knocked on the door and was waved in.
"Do you have a minute to talk Sarge?" The burly sergeant looked at both the clock on the wall and a pacing Reed and said with a yawn.
"Sure, Jim." Mac motioned for the young officer to take a seat. "What's on your mind?"
"Pete's taking the sergeants exam on Saturday, right?"
"As far as I know, that is his plan, unless you've heard something to the contrary." Mac resisted the urge to tell Jim, yet again to sit down; he was making MacDonald dizzy.
"What happens then? After the test, that is."
"That depends on if Pete passes it or not. You know that. Either he makes sergeant or he doesn't." The sergeant knew Jim well enough to venture a guess at what it was that was bothering his friend, but he was content to let Jim go on without interrupting him.
"What if he doesn't pass the exam? What does he do then?"
More than once, Pete had confided in MacDonald that he didn't think Jim understood all the implications of both his prospects for full recovery and the reality of what the future most likely held. "Are you are asking me if Pete is restored to full duty, will you two be back riding patrol together?"
Jim stopped pacing and looked at Mac with such hope in his eyes; he wanted the impossible and it broke Mac's heart to tell him the truth.
"No. If, and that's a big if, Pete fails the exam and is returned to full duty, he wouldn't be riding with you. It makes no sense to have our two best training officers tooling around in a squad car together."
"Why didn't he tell me that?" Reed looked like he had lost his best friend and in a way, he did.
"Maybe it's because, deep down, you both want the impossible."
