"Where Mr. Michaelson at?"

"Yeah. We don't know you, lady. Me and Jamal, we not saying nothing until Mr. Michaelson be here."

"You boys certain?"

They nodded.

"I'll be right back. I'll see if he's available. You two be quiet."

The woman walked out of the room and joined them in the observation area. "You really have those kids, Dave."

"I keep telling you. These kids are mine."

"You want to go in now? Or wait a minute or two, see what they do?" The woman dropped down into a chair next to Jim, who smiled at her.

Dave shrugged. "Good question, Amy. Let's wait a bit. At least until I finish my coffee."

"Want more, Dave? I can go and get you some more if you like." Matt jumped up from his seat.

"It's okay." Dave laughed gently. "Two cups are plenty. Relax."

"Okay. But if you need *anything*..." Jim and Blair exchanged looks.

Dave emptied his cup and stood up. "Thanks, Matt. Amy, looks like our young friends are not going to help us on their own." He looked at the two of them, who were discussing Pokemon, and shrugged. "Let's do it."

"You're the man, Dave." The lovely brunette led the way back to the interrogation room.

Matt sat and stared at their side of the mirror as Dave appeared and greeted the two boys. "Look at him. He has the most amazing rapport. I've never seen kids like that talk to a cop with such trust or respect."

Jim turned to Blair and smirked. Blair was relieved that Matt was too wrapped up in the mirror to notice. He motioned for Jim to join him away from their friend.

They met in the corner furthest from Matt. Jim was still smirking. "Looks like your little girlfriend found figured out *who* she is."

Blair nodded. "Looks that way. And looks like it hit him hard." Blair shook his head. "He's taking this better than I would have, but I think he's just relieved he *knows*."

Jim sobered. "Oh, the poor girl. Yeah...that'll hit her soon, I think. Right now, she's in love. And so *darling* about it, too."

"It won't be *darling* for long." He turned to look at the mirror again. Dave was talking earnestly to the two boys, who were shaking their heads.

Matt was just staring. He turned to follow Dave as he moved from one boy to the other, and Blair caught sight of his black eye again when that side of his face came into view. It was still quite spectacular, even with the swelling mostly gone.

"Something else happened last night. Matt's been a cop for too long to just get jumped like that. I can't help thinking that's all tied up with his crush on Dave."

"Jim! Blair! They're talking."

They rushed to the window.

"Okay, LeShaun, let's get down to business here."

"You said nothing was going to happen."

The boy crossed his arms.

"I *said* we would do our best and that I would take care you. Don't I always take care of you guys?"

"You sent couple boys up to prison. How that taking care of them?"

"They did it themselves, LeShaun. I did what I could...found them a good program...you know that."

"Yeah, LeShaun." The other boy looked at him. "He kept my sister outta trouble. She home now, going to school."

"How's the baby?"

Jamal shrugged. "He not crying so much at night now, and he gots to get new clothes. Mama say that good."

"Sounds good to me. It means he's healthy and growing. He's going to be big like his uncle. Boys, what happened last week? If you tell me, I can help you out. You see, we want bigger game."

"We ain't giving up no one, Mr. Michaelson. We ain't turning on none of our homeboys."

"It's not *your* homeboys we're after, Jamal. Just tell me why you were roaming *that* part of town late at night. I thought the gangs kept clear once the sun went down."

LeShaun nodded. "That be the deal. We do our business during the day and..."

"And?"

"You won't believe me."

"Try me, baby. I've heard things on this case that make me believe anything."

The two boys looked at each other. "It *your* guys. The cops. We pay off the precinct during the day, and night time is theirs, so they can hassle the faggots." LeShaun looked scared and defiant at the same time.

Dave smiled at him. "I knew that, though it's nice you boys could confirm it. What I want to know is why you were there at night if it's not your territory then."

"We wanted to be part of the gang, but Super-T and RD, they say we just kids. Too little for real action. We were gonna *show* them. Show them we could take care of bidness same as them. But we can't get in on no action, you know? Not without no cash. We figured, no one would care if we robbed some old faggot."

Jim winced at those words. Blair hurt, too. Poor Freddie...to be described like that.

"So you waited in the alley?"

"Yeah. Me and Jamal, we had us a couple knives and a baseball bat. Jamal wanted to have a gun, but I ain't never used one, and Super-T, he say if he catch me with his gun, he kill me."

Dave nodded. "I told Timothy that it was his responsibility to keep you alive."

"He in trouble over this?"

"Not from what you told me. So you gathered your weapons."

"Yeah. And we sat there. Lotta guys walked by, in bunches. Nobody alone. We bout ready to give up when this old guy comes walking down. Least, he was dressed like a dude, but he didn't walk like no dude. So me and Jamal, we ask him for his money. He takes out his wallet, and gives us twenty-two dollars. So we ask him for the rest. He say that all he have."

"What did you do then?" Dave looked LeShaun straight in the eyes. LeShaun flinched.

"We...look, we didn't want to hurt the guy. We just wanted to scare him. Make him give us the rest of the money."

"But he didn't have any more money."

"Nope. But we didn't know that. All them faggots are rich, right? He hadda have more money. So we...I took out my knife and told him I'd cut him and Jamal held up the bat."

"And what happened?"

"He scary, Mr. Michaelson. Kept calling us 'angels' and 'sweetheart', like we were girls or something. And he still didn't have no money. So...I cut him. And Jamal hit him."

"And?"

"Mr. Michaelson, he just fell down!" Jamal was near tears. "I didn't mean to hit him that hard. He fell down and he was bleeding and he wasn't moving, and we didn't want to...I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it!"

Dave put his arm around the boy. "I know, baby. But it happened."

In the observation room, Blair hugged Jim, who was shaking his head. "For twenty-two damn bucks! What the hell is wrong with this world?"

"What's going to happen to these kids?" Blair watched Dave soothe Jamal. "I mean, they are only twelve."

"They'll go to juvenile hall, where they can train to be *better* little thieves, and where the older boys can get their slimy hands on them." Blair winced at the bitterness in Jim's voice.

"Look at him. I've never seen kids react to anyone like that. He's amazing." Matt stared at Dave and only at Dave.

Blair held Jim tightly. "I think Dave might have some way around it. The kids are listening. I don't know how we'll tell Mel."

"We'll find a way. Anyway, Chief, these children aren't the only killers. We have some boys in blue to catch."

Blair shook his head. "You are going to be *so* hated, Jim."

Jim snapped his fingers. "For that noise. They hate me *already*, sweetcheeks. What they *need* to do is worry about doing their *jobs*, not *me*."

"All I know is that it's lucky you're big and high profile. They don't *dare* do anything to threaten or..." He looked at Matt again. The young man absently rubbed his shoulder as he gazed adoringly at Dave through the mirror. "We know how he got that shiner."

"Yep."

"You *knew*?"

"I guessed. Angel, it's up to him. If he even knows who it *was*. If he isn't so wrapped up in Sweet Dave in there that he even *cares* right now."

"They'll kill him." Blair closed his eyes.

He felt Jim pull him closer. "He'll survive. I'll make sure of it. Be good to have more family in vice again."

"My baby! My baby! What my baby doing here? What you do, Jamal?" A woman's voice intruded from the interrogation room.

Blair opened his eyes. A woman who looked too young to be Jamal's mother, with eyes that had clearly seen too much, had walked in. She was wearing surgical scrubs.

"Mama! Mama, I'm in trouble."

"You bet you are. I'll tan your hide. What he do, Mr. Michaelson? What LeShaun make him do?"

Dave quietly persuaded the woman to sit down next to her son and explained quickly but sympathetically what had happened. She began to cry and then to scream at Dave for letting her baby get into trouble.

He sat there and took it while the two boys defended him. He flinched with every word she said, and Matt flinched with him. Blair hurt for both of them, but more for that poor woman. He could see her hopes for her son crash and burn in her eyes. She stood to pace the room. She was pregnant. Blair couldn't help but wonder if this one would bring her more pain.

Eventually, the woman settled down and even apologized to Dave, who shook his head. "You were right, Tamika. Every word. I'm sorry."

"What we gonna do now?"

"We're going to wait for Jenet and the lawyers and the social worker. Then we'll all discuss everything. We're going to do our best for these boys." The other woman's name rhymed with "Renee."

"Jenet be here soon. She have to wait till her shift over. Can't afford to lose time from work."

Dave nodded. "Excuse me."

He got up and walked back to the observation room. "Guys, this is going to be awhile. You might as well salvage the rest of your Saturday. Thanks a lot."

"I can hang around a little longer if you want, D-Dave." Blair shared a rueful grin with Jim. Matt sounded like a puppy dog.

But Dave shook his head. "There's nothing you can do, dude. My Saturday's gone. No reason yours should be. I'll see all of you on Monday."

"Call us, girlfriend. Maybe these kids can help find the *real* killers."

Dave grinned. "Will do."

**************

"Darling, I'm serious...Yes...*Twelve.*...I know, it's simply *horrible*. And we *saw* a mother...she's a *baby* too...I don't know...no, sweetie, we'll *get* them....Okay, you take care of yourself, Miss Melly...she is?...Give Evie a kiss for me, then...bye, dear."

Jim hung up the phone.

"How he take it, James?" Blair looked up from the vegetables he and Dave were chopping.

"She's not happy. If the killers were big, *nasty* homophobes, then she'd be *dancing* that we got them off the street. Evie's having dinner with her tonight."

"Evie's good. She'll take care of Mel." Matt rinsed off a couple of tomatoes.

"You really know that area, don't you, Matt?"

"Yeah. I watched it fall to pieces around me when I was a beat cop. The people in Stonewall are...well, some are great and some are jerks and some are just people. And they don't deserve what's going on."

Matt dumped the tomatoes he'd sliced into the salad bowl with the rest of vegetables and carried it to the table. Blair got some dressing out of the fridge and Jim poured the wine he'd opened about an hour ago.

Blair noticed Matt wincing as he sat down. "You don't deserve it, either, guy."

Matt didn't even blink. "Not according to them. You guys are dying to know, aren't you?"

"We just want to help. But it's up to you." Blair poured dressing over his salad.

Matt looked at Jim, who was carefully checking for scallions and setting them aside. "*You* understand, don't you? Why I can't..."

"Yes, I do. No matter what...they're still your brothers. *Our* brothers. And you *can't* betray your brothers."

"Exactly." Matt nodded.

"Even if *they* betray *you*?" Blair frowned, a forkful of salad held halfway to his mouth. "Even if they follow you to a party and beat you up? Even if they talk about you behind your back and snigger? If they treat your...even if they don't consider *you* their brother?"

Matt shook his head. "You don't understand, Blair. You're not a cop. You have to think of other cops as your brothers, so they know you can depend on them. If you don't, you might as well be dead."

Jim closed his eyes and sighed. "Matt, you just made a *big* mistake."

Blair could feel his anger well up. He carefully put his fork down. "Yeah. I'm *not* a cop. I'm just a lousy professor who just happens to have put his *life* on the line for Cascade PD for *years*, and who didn't even get *paid* for it for most of them. I know about the brother cop thing. I know about it first hand."

He rubbed his face with his hands. "And I *know* when it's a *crock*. We can't get anyone out of Major Crimes to be our backups anymore. You *know* that, James. I don't give a damn because they're the best, but the other's are *not* your brothers."

"I can't answer betrayal with betrayal." Matt sounded definite. "It goes against everything I've ever been taught. Look, I'm going to watching out for those guys from now on. They won't catch me unaware anymore."

"He's right, Chief. He's doing it the *only* way." Jim got up and began gathering the salad and bowls.

"I can *not* believe you, man. You're the *last* person I'd think who held to those old macho ideas."

Jim put the salad bowls on the counter and turned to face Blair. "Darling, *honor* is *not* a *macho* idea. If we *didn't* trust other police, we'd be *dead*. Where *have* you been?"

He sniffed, and began to rinse off the bowls and put them in the dishwasher.

Blair clenched his fists in frustration. They were so caught up in this fantasy world of theirs that they wouldn't listen, and nothing he could say would change it. If anything, it would make it worse.

"Are you all right, Blair?"

He took a deep breath. "Yeah." He forced himself to smile. "So...last night you were totally confused. Today...what happened?"

Matt blushed. "It's that obvious?"

"Babycakes, it's *adorable.* There is *nothing* cuter than first love." Jim giggled as he dished up the vegetarian chili and rice. "Either of you want cheese or onions on your chili?"

"Just the onions, please. I am going to crawl into a hole and *die*." Matt buried his head in his hands, laughing.

"Both, James. It's all right. We've all been there."

Go to Part Eight.