(All disclaimers apply. This story is base on a TV series. I've just borrows the characters.)

The Gift

CHAPTER-1.

By Emess

msa1810.sav@sympatico.ca

NOTE: I would like to thank Terri Volpe who proofread the first version of this story and Laura Leone with the finale version. Without you two, my story would have been a mess like the first one I wrote.

 

Steve stood in front of the mirror, combing his hair, glancing occasionally at his father and notice he was having difficulty with his tie.

Mark had tried many times but finally give up.

"Here dad, let me help you," then added with a smile "I'm the one who usually has that problem."

Mark didn't smile. "Forget about it. I'm not going."

"You can't change your mind now." Steve told him "They're expecting you."

Ever since Mark got the news of his friend's death, he hadn't been the same. He had become more withdrawn. When Steve saw the change in his father attitude, he tried everything he could to get him interested in the things he loved, but without any luck. He hoped that after today, slowly but gradually things may come back as they used to be.

"I know what awaits me Steve, a bunch of guys who are going to talk about the old days. It's the same thing every time we meet."

Steve knew his father loved it. "What Anne's gonna say if you don't show up?"

Mark turned around and faced the mirror. Has he tried once more to fixed his tie. "Funerals. God I hate them."

Steve stood behind him. "Look, if you really don't want to go, we'll stay here."

Mark lowered his head. He didn't know what to do. He should go. He owe it to Harry. Finally Mark agreed "We'll go. Might as well have this done once in for all.

---

When they arrived at the cemetery, the ceremony was almost over.

Steve was surprised. "A military ceremony dad?" he asked.

Mark nodded. "I'll explain later."

He knew that his dad and probably most of the people here were war veterans but he never expected it. They didn't seems like the kind of people who would have this sort of ceremony.

They approached the group that had already gathered. Everyone turned their heads and greeted them with a nodded. Mark did the same.

The widow slightly lift her head and when she saw Mark, she couldn't help but smile a bit at him. She was happy that he finally came.

"May he rest in peace." The priest said making the sign of the cross.

Six soldiers in military ceremonial uniforms, meticulously folded the American flag that covered the casket and passed it to an officer, who then walked to the widow and gave it to her. She took it and quietly said "Thank you."

He backed away, stood at attention, saluted her, then walked to a platoon and waited. As the casket was lowered to the ground, the officer gave the order.

"READY," the platoon pulled their weapons in unison.

"AIM," they point their guns in the air.

"FIRE," a gun salute was heard. Three times, the order was given.

Most of the friends gave the military salute at the sound of the guns. Steve also saluted, but Mark lowered his head instead.

"Goodbye Harry." Steve heard his father whisper as he kept his gaze in front of him.

When it was over, the priest went to see the widow, said a few words, than left.

One by one, the group of friends went to her. She in returned kiss them and ask "You will come to my house?"

Everyone said yes. Before walking back to their cars, they stopped to talk to Mark. He greeted them with a smile and a shake of the hand.

Mark walked to her, with Steve following behind."I'm sorry for being late." he said as he held her in his arms.

She accepted his embrace and stayed like that for a while. "When the ceremony started and I didn't see you, I really thought that you wouldn't come." She pulled away from him.

"To tell you the truth Anne," Mark said "I almost stayed home."

Anne looked at Mark. "You're still angry aren't you?"

Steve who stood behind, didn't know what Anne was talking about.

Mark kept holding her hand "Yes I am, and I have all the rights to be. To tell me that Harry was dying a month ago, when you knew for a year." He shook his head "That wasn't right."

Anne tried to pull her hand away but Mark didn't let her go.

"I know I'm repeating myself but I'll say it again. I'm sorry, deeply sorry for not telling you before that. Mark you know how hard it is to live with someone you love and know that no matter what you do, he's going to die anyway. You went through the same thing with Katherine. And to go through all that pain again, I couldn't do that to you and neither could Harry, that's why he made me promise not to tell you."

Mark nodded and looked away.

Steve wondered if that had been the reason his father didn't want to go. "She had lied to dad but was it really a lie?" he thought. "Anne only did it to protect dad and he did the same thing to Carol and I. Dad withhold the truth to protect us the same way Anne did." Steve told himself.

"So if you don't want to talk to me anymore, I'll accept it." Anne finished.

Mark look back at her and let go of her hand. "You did what you thought would be best for me. I understand."

"Where's Sam?" Anne asked.

"He couldn't come, he's in Europe right now, but sends his condolences".

Anne nodded and looked at Steve. "Mark, is that your son?"

Mark smiled."Yes, it is."

Steve stepped forward and shook her hand. "My sincere condolences Mrs. Lockead."

Anne took his hand. "My God Steve, the last time I saw you, you were about this high." and she placed her hand at her elbow.

Steve smiled. "I've grown a bit since".

"A bit" she repeated, "Mark, he's taller than you. Oh! but he's got your smile."

"Did you know my husband?" she asked Steve.

"No I didn't, I'm sorry."

"You would have loved him too, right Mark?" Anne asked.

Mark smiled as he thought of Harry.

She put her arm around Mark "You want to walk me to the car?"

Mark nodded and they started to walk to the limousine that was waiting for her, with Steve trailing behind.

"What are you going to do now Anne?"

"I've been thinking about that ever since Harry died. I'm going to sell the house and go back east to live with my sister. She's a widow too."

Mark wasn't really surprised "You have nothing more holding you here now."

"Oh there's always you Mark," she said, then turned to Steve."Is your father still working too much?"

Steve nodded "Yes he is, even if I've asked him many times to slow down."

Anne sighed "How come all the men I've dated all turned out to be workaholic?"

Steve stared at her, then at his father "You two went out together?"

"Only twice, she dumped me for Harry." Mark replied.

Anne smiled at Steve. "That's not what happened, your mother stole him from me."

She looked back at Mark "I want to spend what's left of my life with my family."

They stopped when they reached the car and Mark took her hand. "Well until you move, I'm still here even if I'm busy. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know."

She nodded "Of course Mark, I'll call you. Are you coming by the house?"

Mark shook his head "I'll pass on that and it as nothing to do with what we've discuss a moment ago. I just don't feel like it."

"It's okay Mark," Anne told him as she kissed Mark and shook Steve's hand before getting in the limousine. "You will call me?"

"Don't worry Anne, I will."

Steve looked at his father."You want me to drive you to the hospital?"

Mark turned around and walked towards Steve's car."No, I'll stay home today."

That surprised Steve because all week his father told him that he would go back to work after the funeral. Steve didn't know if he was happy or not. That's exactly what he had want his father to do. But now seeing him like this, he wasn't sure anymore.

---

At the hospital, Jesse was making his and Mark's rounds, when he met Amanda coming out of her office. "Hey Amanda, Mark's not back yet?"

"Oh I hope not. The way he's been acting lately, I'd prefer that he'd stay home."

"Yeah your right, but Mark said that he would come in right after the funeral." Jesse looked at his watch."It's almost 11:00. Usually, when Mark says that he'll be here, he WILL be here."

As they stood there talking, Norman Briggs came by and stared at them. "Why are you two standing here? Don't you have work to do?"

"Norman, we were just talking about Mark." Jesse replied.

"Is he back?" Norman asked, looking around. "I would have assumed that he would go home after the funeral."

"No Norman," Amanda said "Mark's not back yet, but maybe that's where he is. He probably decided to go home."

"Oh I don’t know Amanda, Mark would have called or Steve would have told us." Jesse said shaking his head.

"Well, if you want to know the truth," Norman whispered "I rather he'd stay home. You try to have a simple conversation with him, and all he does is turn his back on you and walk away. Or he says 'Not now, later.' Do you think Dr. Sloan's angry at us?"

Amanda disagreed. "If Mark's not talking to us, it doesn't mean he's angry. He's trying to cope with the lost of a friend and from what Steve said, they knew each other since college. So just imagine losing a friend that you knew for that long."

Norman nodded "Yes, maybe you're right."

"I know I'm right." Amanda said. "Just gave him time, he will eventually come out of that isolation he's in at the moment. And he knows we're here if he needs something."

Jesse nodded "Yeah, you're right."

"OK Dr. Bentley, I'll accept this." Norman said. "But there's something bothering me. Don't you find it strange that when Dr. Sloan is not well, the entire personnel reacts to it. And when the same thing happen to me, everyone work as if nothing happened.

Amanda just smiled and shrugged, while Jesse looked anywhere but at Norman.

Norman looked at them. "You don't have a clue either?" and left to returned to his office.

"Man! He hasn't figure that one yet." Jesse said.

Amanda shook her head "No, he knows. Norman as always been a bit jealous of Mark because of that. I think he asked us just to see what we would say."

Jesse shook his head "If Norman would treat everybody the same way Mark does, he would get their respect too."

DR. TRAVIS LINE 3, DR. TRAVIS LINE 3.

Jesse walked to the nearest phone. "Dr. Travis." he said when he took the phone.

"Jess, it's Steve. Don't expect dad today, he decided to stay home after all."

Amanda joined him and Jesse repeated what Steve told him. "Well Steve, it's better that way, that's what we all hoped he would do."

"I know Jess, but now I don't know. When I left dad home, he seemed more depress than he was before."

Jesse looked at his watch. "Look Steve, during my lunch break, I could go and see if Mark's alright?"

"I would do it myself but I'm so backed up with my reports, that I'm afraid I'll be late tonight."

"Don't worry Steve, Amanda and I will check on Mark." Jesse reassured him.

"Thanks guys." Steve said "I owe you one!"

---

Mark had been sitting home, not knowing what to do when his phone rang. He slowly walked to it.

"Mark Sloan!" he answered. "Hi Tom." he said recognizing the voice. Tom was one of Mark's friends who attended the funeral.

"What are you doing home Mark?" Tom asked.

Mark sigh "Not much."

"You didn't forget the promise, did you?" Tom urged.

Mark closed his eyes "Yes I did, I'm sorry."

"Well, are you coming?"

"You guys want to do it now?" Mark asked surprised.

"What's the difference, now or later, we're going to do it anyway." Tom told him.

Mark thought about it."I won't go if you guys do the same thing as the last time," he warned him.

"We won't Mark. We'll stay at the same place. Okay?"

"That's not what I asked Tom."

Tom hesitated before answering "I don't know Mark. Look, Sam's away, you at least have to be with us." Tom pleaded with him.

Mark sigh "Alright, I'm coming."

"Good Mark, we'll pick you up in half an hour."

---

When everybody left her house after the wake, Anne looked around and felt very lonely. She started collecting the dishes that were left by her guests when there was a knock at the door. She opened it "Oh hi Billy, what are you doing here today?"

Billy Anderson was a kid from the neighborhood. He was nineteen, a nice kid who was mentally impaired with a mind of a thirteen year old. Everyone liked him. Always ready to lend a hand. But sometimes his choice of friends wasn't always good and unfortunately he could be influenced quite easily.

"Hi, Anne. You need help?" Billy asked with a smile.

"I could use your company if you want."

"That I could do." Billy told her.

She let him in. "I was just cleaning the house after the guests left."

"Here, I'll do it." he offered and together they picked up all the dishes, he even helped her wash and dry them. When they were finished, Billy looked at her "Anything else?"

Anne thought about it."Yes there'll be more but you go home now, it's almost lunch time. But wait here a moment." she left Billy and walked to her bedroom. When she came back, she gave him five dollar bill.

Billy's eyes grew wide when he saw the money. "Thanks Anne."

---

Jesse arrived at the beach house only to find all the doors locked. He found it strange since Mark's car was in the driveway. "Maybe he went for a walk along the shore." he thought. He walked in that direction. Jesse looked everywhere but didn't see Mark. "I have an hour to kill, I'll wait on the patio." he told himself.

The hour passed but Mark didn't show up. "Where can he be?" Jesse wondered out loud and pulled out his cell phone.

"Dad's not home?" Steve asked.

"Well if he is, why did he locked all the doors?" Jesse wondered.

"Jesse, why didn't you use the key dad left you?"

Jesse was embarrassed "I lost it. But Amanda has one also. She's coming by later."

"OK, I'll keep calling." Steve told him. "Tell Amanda to call me as soon as she's home."

Jesse nodded "Got it Steve."

---

Tom had picked up Mark in a mini van, since all his friends were there also. But before leaving and since he didn't know how long he would be gone, Mark left a note on the table for Steve.

Tom asked Mark to drive. None of them came from L.A. and didn't know the city well. When they arrived in the parking lot of the restaurant, they all looked at Mark.

"That's not what we asked for Mark." Tom said. "This is a fancy restaurant."

"I don't know any good bar downtown." Mark replied "I don't go to those places."

Tom had to agree. "It doesn't surprise me, you were never the type. Let's keep driving, I'm sure we'll find something."

They drove for about twenty minutes, when one of Mark's friends pointed at a bar.

"Pull over Mark." Tom said.

Mark did and parked the van in front of the bar. They all got out and stared at the place.

"It looks Okay from the outside." Jack said. "Let see what it looked from the inside."

---

Amanda arrived at the house. She got out of her car and walked to the front door. "Yep, still locked." She pulled out her keys and unlocked it.

"Mark, you here?" she asked when she got in. "Mark?" She looked everywhere but Mark wasn't home. Amanda knew that it wasn't like him to leave for a long period of time without telling someone where he went. Then she saw the note on the table, walked to it and read it. "Oh! That's where he is." she said. "And here we are, worrying about Mark, when all he did was to go out with his friends."

After Steve talked to Amanda, he felt much better. At least now, he knew where he was. Steve smiled "They're probably talking about the old days, like dad said they would. I wished I could be with them, I like to hear things like that. Oh well, as long as he's having a good time, that's the important thing."

---

After almost two hours, most of Mark's friends were drunk, except Tom and Jack.

"Come on Mark, take another drink, you only had one." Tom told him.

"And that's all I'm gonna take." Mark's replied. "You knew that."

"Yeah but we thought that maybe this time, you would make an exception."

Mark shook his head.

"We all made that pact a long time ago." Tom reminded Mark.

"I know." Mark said."We were suppose to toast to the friend who had died and that was one drink. But you guys changed the rules. Now it's, let's all get drunk and I don't want no part of that."

"I'm sure you would drank more if Sam would have been here." Jack told him.

Mark shook his head "That's not true and you know it. Look, let's end this." Mark said "I'm sure Harry's very honored that we drank to him."

The two stubborn ones refused. "We're not done yet Mark." Tom told him. "If you want to go, go. Jack and I will keep going."

Mark looked at them "You know, maybe that's what I should do. A night in jail may do you some good. Then again, that's what happened the last time."

Tom smile at him "We all spent the night in jail, including you Mark."

Mark shook his head "And where am I, six years later? In a bar with you guys." He knew that if he left them, they will get in trouble. "Alright, I'm staying but those guys will have to leave." and stood up to walked to the bartender.

"That's right Mark," Tom yelled after him "if we do end up in jail, Steve will be able to bail us out."

Mark turned to face Tom "Keep Steve out of this."

Tom walked to Mark "You Sloan's don't know how to have fun. Relax will you, we're here to do just that. I don't know what happened to you Mark, but you used to be more fun than this."

Mark returned to the bartender "Can you call a cab please?"

"Yes sir." the bartender answered.

Mark nodded "Thank you."

"Excuse me Sir?"

Mark looked at the bartender "Yes?"

"I'm used to seeing a lot of people around here, but you don't seem like the type of guy who would hang in bars like this." he told Mark.

"You're right about that." Mark said. "They're my friends and I want to make sure nothing bad happen to them."

The bartender was surprised "That's very kind of you. Don't worry, your cab will be here in a couple of minutes."

Not far from Mark, was a group of thugs. "You heard that?" one said.

"Yeah! Steve Sloan." the other one answered. "That means he's Sloan's old man. I've been waiting to meet him for a long time," he said smiling. "They're looking for fun? Let's give them some." and took his drink as he stood up.

"You know that Sloan will go after you if he finds out," another one said.

The man just shrugged "Let him."

As he turned around, Mark bumped into the guy who had a drink in his hand and caused it to spill it on the floor.

"Hey watch it old man." the guy said.

"I'm sorry." Mark said."It was an accident."

"Yeah well accident or not, you owe me a drink."

Mark looked at him and saw that he didn't seem too friendly, so he asked the bartender to fill his glass. The man didn't even thank Mark and returned to his table.

"Okay I just called for a cab." Mark said as he rejoined his friends.

"Mark you didn't have to pay for his drink." Jack told him. "He's the one who bumped into you," he said pointing at the man.

Mark shook his head "Never mind that. Why don't we all wait outside." He didn't know why but he had a bad feeling that something was going to happen.

"Why? We have a right to be here as much as them." Tom said.

"Tom, I don't want any argument." Mark warned him. "Now let's wait outside," and pointed at the door." Maybe some fresh air will do you some good."

When Mark saw his friends stand up, he was surprised they didn't argue more. But when he looked at their faces, he realized they weren't looking at him but behind him. Mark turned and saw the same man with his friends walking towards them. "Oh no!" he thought.

"You're pointing your finger at us?" the man who had bumped into Mark said.

"I wasn't pointing at you but at the door." Mark answered.

"I was." Jack said. "You bumped into Mark in purpose. You owe him an apology."

"MATTHEW" the bartender yelled "I DON'T WANT ANY FIGHTING IN HERE." But he didn't wait for something to happen and immediately called the cops. He knew Matthew to well.

"They're won't be." Mark told the bartender. "We were just leave."

The first man who approached them, looked at Mark. "You're accusing us and you think you can just walk out of here?" he shook his head "I don't think so."

---

Steve had finally caught up with his work that he allowed himself a break. Before leaving, he decided to call home to see if his father was back, but there was no answer. "Well, good for him then." he said. "The longer he's with his friends, the better." So he left his office and decided to go see Jesse.

Jesse was treating a patient who had burned her hand, when Steve arrived.

"Hey Jess."

"Steve what are you doing here?" Jesse said as Steve stood in the doorway. "I thought you had too many paperwork."

"Yeah, that was true, but I manage to finished half of it."

Two paramedics arrived with a man on the stretcher. Jesse looked at them. "I'll be with you guys in a minute." he said. "Finish the bandage will you?" he asked the nurse who was with him.

Steve turned and looked at the man on the gurney. "Dad?" he said, when he recognized his father and rushed to him. "My God! What happened to you?"

"In here." Jesse quickly pointed to a room, when he too recognized Mark.

"We were called to a bar." one of the paramedic said. "Dr. Sloan was caught in a brawl."

Everybody who happened to be close by were shocked to hear that.

"In a brawl?" Steve repeated and looked at his father.

"The doctor's got a broken hand and a deep laceration over the eye."

They help Mark from the gurney to the bed.

"Dad, is that true?" Steve asked, still not believing what he heard.

Mark closed his eyes and slowly nodded.

"What..." Steve was going to asked another question, but Jesse stopped him.

"Steve let me check Mark first." Jesse said as he removed the bloody bandage that was covering Mark's right eye. "That's a very bad cut." He turned and extended his hand to a nurse who immediately gave him some tissue. Jesse wiped the blood, trying to see how deep it was. "I'm going to have to put some stitches to close this. Does it hurt you?"

"Like you wouldn't believe, Jesse." Mark told him.

Steve stood by helpless, he want to help but didn't know what to do. But mostly, he wanted to know what happened.

"Mark, if you close your left eye, can you see with this one?"

Mark tried "It's blurry," he looked at different object in the room "Close or far, it's the same."

"Does you eye hurt you?"

"It's not the eye exactly." Mark tried to explain "But more behind it. It stings."

Jesse nodded. "I'm going to call Andrew. He will check your eye anyway," and took the compress a nurse gave him and applied to the cut.

Steve couldn't wait any longer "Dad, what happened? How did you ended up in a fight?"

"I was in a bar with some friends." Mark said "I bumped into one guy, excused myself but I guess he didn't like it, and to make the story short, I'm sitting here with a broken hand and one big headache."

"That story is quite short dad, you're gonna have to do better than that." Steve told him. He sniff the air and looked at his father "Have you been drinking?"

"Steve!" Mark said staring at his son. "How can you even think of something like that. You know I only take a drink once in a while."

"It's true Mark," Jesse said "I did smell it but I didn't want to say anything. There's a strong smell of alcohol on you."

Mark was shocked "On my clothes maybe. I took one drink and that's all. You want me to take a test?" he asked Steve.

Steve shook his head "On the note you left home, you said you were going to a restaurant. How did you end up in a bar?"

"The restaurant was my intention, but the friends I was with decided otherwise." Mark explain.

"How did this happen?" Jesse asked as he carefully unwrapped Mark's hand.

"Jesse be careful. That hurts." Mark immediately tried to pull his hand away.

Jesse saw that it had swelled up around the knuckles and part of his hand. "Can you move your fingers?"

Mark tried, the thumb and first finger, he could move but not the rest.

"You may have broken some knuckles or dislocated them, but I can't tell because of the swelling, we'll know more with an x-ray. How about your wrist?"

Mark shook his head "The wrist is Okay. It's mainly my knuckles. I heard them crack when I hit one guy."

Steve and Jesse stared at one another then at Mark.

"I couldn't just stand there and let the guy hit me," Mark answered when he saw the look they gave him "I had to defend myself."

"Right on, Mark." Jesse said smiling "I would like to see what the other guy's face looks like," but quickly lost his smile when he saw the stare that Mark and Steve gave him.

"Jesse, this is no joke." Steve told him. "Dad could have been more injured than this."

"Sorry." Jesse said, then added instead "Well for a man you said was depressed when you left him, he doesn't look or sound too depress for me."

More ambulances arrived with the rest of the injured.

Mark pointed as two paramedics brought in a stretcher. "The man's over there."

Steve and Jesse turned their heads in the direction Mark was pointing and saw someone lying on his back on a stretcher that the paramedic brought. Steve walked towards the man and recognized him. "Is he the one who hit you?" he asked his father.

"The one that I hit."

"No way dad." Steve said as he walked back to his father. "Unless you hit him while he wasn't looking."

Mark wasn't embarrassed at all when he answered. "What if I did? Did you see the size of that guy? Anyway, someone did the same to me. All I know is that, one moment I'm standing up holding my hand and the next, I'm lying on the floor ."

Jesse lost his humor when he heard what Mark said. "You don't remembered being hit or falling?"

"No I don't." Mark told him.

Jesse looked at the paramedic who was still with them. "Do you know if he lost consciousness?"

"The bartender said that Dr. Sloan was knocked out after he was hit and that the same guy was going to hit him again when the cops arrived. When we arrived, the doctor was regaining consciousness, a bit confused at the beginning but slowly he came back to reality. We asked him all sorts of questions and he answered them without any problem."

When Steve heard that, he felt anger building inside. "I know who that guy is," pointing at the man on the stretcher "and I know who he hang with. Dad, what bar was that?"

Mark knew what Steve had in mind and refused to answered him.

"You know I'm gonna found out anyway." Steve told him.

Still Mark refused to tell him.

Steve then looked at the paramedic, who in turned looked at Mark. "I'm sorry Dr. Sloan, but your son's a cop. You can refused to answer him but not me." he looked back at Steve "It was The Blue Flamingo."

"Thank you." Steve said and left.

"Steve?" Mark called and tried to stop him but could. "One of these days," Mark said "he's going to get kicked out of the force because of his outburst of anger."

Jesse asked the nurse who was beside him "Call Andrew Lewis and asked him to come to the ER to see Dr. Sloan."

Amanda rushed to Mark. "Oh my God Mark! What happened to you?" she asked. "I just heard."

One of the paramedic who was still there said "Well if you guys doesn't need us anymore, we'll be on our way."

Mark waved at him "Thanks for the ride."

"Hey no problem doc. Take care and no more fighting."

"Fight? Amanda repeated "What fight?"

"OK, let's have an x-ray of your hand and see the exact damage." Jesse said as he went to the phone.

"Mark! What fight?" Amanda insisted.

Mark closed his eyes. "I feel so stupid. I knew it was going to happen."

"He got into a fight." Jesse told her.

"You? You got into a fight?" Amanda asked shocked. "You? How?"

"I was forced into it Amanda." Mark said "It's not something that I like to do, not if there's another way to resolve the problem."

"It happened while you were at a restaurant?" she asked.

Mark put his left hand on the side of his head "No we didn't go there."

After his phone call, Jesse went back to Mark. "Does it still hurt you?" he asked as he lifted the bandage, to see if it was still bleeding.

"Yes, my head is pounding and I'm a bit dizzy." Mark told him.

"Is it like a headache?" Jesse asked.

"No, it's more like someone is banging my head with a hammer." Mark said.

Jesse shook his head. He didn't like that. "You're going for a cat-scan. I don't want to take any chances."

Just then, the technician arrived with the x-ray equipment. "Who is it for?" he asked.

Jesse turned to him and indicated Mark. "Take an x-ray of Dr. Sloan's right hand now.

The technician stared at him "Hey Doc, what happened to you?"

"Never mind." Mark said exasperated.

---

Steve arrived at the bar and saw that there was still a police car parked in front. He parked his car beside it, got out and walked inside the bar. What he saw surprised him. A lot of chairs and table had been broken.

"I'm sorry but the bar is closed." the bartender said to Steve.

Steve pulled out his badge and show it to him.

"Another one." he said.

"I'm sorry to asked this again Sir but can you tell me what happened here?"

The bartender looked at Steve "As I told the cops..."

"Hey Sloan, what are you doing here?" Mike Burroughs said. "This isn't homicide."

The one detective Steve had hope not to see was him. Steve looked at the bartender. "Excuse me a moment." and walked to Mike.

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Steve demand.

"What for?" Mike looked at him innocently.

Steve did everything he could to keep calm. "You have the names of all the people involved in the fight, don't you?"

Mike nodded.

"Don't you have the name of Mark Sloan in there?"

Mike took his notepad and looked at what he wrote. "Yep! He's there. So?"

There was a police officer who stood behind Mike and just shook his head. He couldn't believed how stupid Burroughs was sometimes.

"Doesn't the name Sloan means anything to you?" Steve asked, losing his patience.

"Oh yeah! Aren't you two related? I forgot about it." Mike simply said. "So how's the old man's doing?"

Steve felt like belting him but decided against it. Instead, he turned around and walked back to the bartender.

Mike saw him go and looked at the officer. "What did I say?"

The officer didn't answered.

"Well, I'm done here then." Mike said and left.

Steve sighed "Thank God there's not too many of them around." he said to no one in particular.

The officer who was with Mike, came to Steve. "I'm sorry Sir, I knew he was your father and told officer Burroughs."

Steve patted him on the arm. "I believe you, Tom. He probably forgot to call me. Did he at least arrest someone?"

"Yes he did but he told them not to worry," Tom said "that they will be released by tomorrow morning."

"After what they did?" the bartender said.

Steve looked at Tom. "Mike really said that?

Tom nodded. "Mike said that no one will press charges against them."

"He's always so sure of himself." Steve said "Well I'm going to prove him wrong this time. Dad will press charges after what they did to him."

"Your father was here?" the bartender asked.

"Yes. He's the one you said that if the cops hadn't arrived, the guy was going to hit him again.

The bartender remembered. "And I was really glad when they arrived. I mean to punch someone is one thing but to hit him again when he's already down is something else. By the way, how is your father?"

"He's got a deep cut over the eye and a broken hand. Do you know how he broke it?"

The bartender nodded and smiled. "As I told him," he pointed at Tom "Those..."

Steve lifted his hand to stop the bartender and looked at Tom. "You did the reports? What did Mike do?"

"All he did was to take the names of those involved in the fight." Tom replied. "He didn't ask any questions."

Steve closed his eyes a moment and looked at the bartender "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"I didn't wait for something to happen. When I saw those punks stand up and approach the older men. I immediately called the police Dept. But those punks thought that they would be easy to knock out." The bartender smiled at Steve "The old men fought back and believe me, if they had been at least ten years younger, they would have beat the shit out of them. At least the ones who could, because out of the six, only three could really fight, the rest were too drunk."

"How many were against them?" Steve asked.

"Five. Anyway, your father manage to defend himself quite well, until he hurt his hand while punching one of them, that's probably how he broke his hand. It was while he was bended over holding his hand, that the guy hit him."

"Was he facing my father when he punch him?"

The bartender shook his head "No, he was on the side. Your father never saw who hit him."

"The one who hit my father, would you be able to described him for me?" Steve knew who he was, he want to make sure he had the right guy.

"I can do better than that," he told Steve "I can gave you his name. It was Matthe..."

"Matthew Curtis." Finished Steve "I knew it was him. Would you be ready to repeat what you told me in front of a judge?" Steve asked him.

"Yes I am, you can count on me." the bartender said. "I never liked the guy."

Steve smile "Thank you. I'll call you when the time come." and left the bar.

The officer walked out with him. "Those guys are in jail right now Sir."

"That's exactly where I'm going." Steve told him "You want a ride?"

He nodded "I came here with Det. Burroughs but he left without me."

As Steve drove back to the station, Tom continued to tell Steve what the bartender told him. "And he said that during the fight, Matthew stayed behind. All he did was stare at your father, until he hurt his hand and that's when he hit him. Why do you think he waited?" Tom ask.

Steve shook his head "He's used to hitting weaker person than himself. He waited for dad to hurt himself."

---

At the police station, Tom followed Steve as he walked directly to the section where the prison cells were. He knew Steve had the reputation of getting very angry at whoever would injured his father.

"Open this door." Steve order as he stopped in front of one.

"Sir?"an officer said.

Steve stared at him, he didn't had to repeated his order, the officer comply.

As soon as the door was unlocked, Steve went in, grabbed Matthew by his shirt and violently throw him against the wall.

Tom looked at the officer who open the door and asked him to get some help. But he didn't try to stop Steve.

Steve then picked up Matthew, pushed him against the wall and placed his arm under the man's neck and pressed. "It's not enough for you to beat kids and woman, now you have to beat older man too."

"What is it to you?" Matthew asked knowing very well what Steve meant.

"One of the men you beat today was my father and you're gonna pay for this." Steve said and throw a punch as hard as he could. Matthew collapse on the floor but Steve kept hitting him.

Two officer arrived and pull Steve away but he didn't let go of Matthew.

"Lt. Sloan, that's enough." Chief Masters yelled when he heard about the commotion

Steve didn't listen, he was blinded by rage.

"Get him out of there!" Masters said to the officers who were behind him.

It took three of them to pulled Steve out of the cell.

"Once you're cooled down, I want to see you in my office." Masters said to him and walked away.

Tom released Steve. "You okay sir?"

Steve nodded and looked at the other officer who were restraining him. "I'm okay guys."

Tom smiled at him. "He got what he deserved."

Steve walked to the Chief office, knocked and entered.

Once inside, Masters stared at him.

"I want an explanation for your behavior and it's better be a good one."

Steve didn't look at him. "He injured my father Sir."

"Look at me when you're talking." Masters said "Now how did he injure your father?"

Steve lifted his head. "My father and some of his friends were at a bar. Matthew Curtis and his friends were there also. He provoked them and it ended in a brawl, which send my father to the hospital."

"Do you have the name of the bar?"

"The Blue Flamingo and Mike Burroughs took charge of the investigation." Steve answered.

"What was Det. Burroughs doing there?"

"I don't know sir." Steve said.

Masters went to the door "Sit down." he said and left the room a moment, then came back.

"With your permission Sir, I would like to go back to the hospital."

"I said sit down Lt. Sloan."

Steve did, then Masters walked to his desk and sat behind it.

"Was your father badly injured?"

"When I saw him, he had a deep cut over one eye and may have a broken hand."

Chief Masters stared at Steve. "I know how close you are to your father but this doesn't excuse your behavior."

"I know what I did was wrong Sir, but it's the way he hit my father that got me more mad."

"What do you mean by that?" Masters asked him.

"Matthew didn't even face dad when he hit him. He was beside him when he punched my father. Dad never saw it coming."

Masters looked at Steve."Matthew was always known to beat people weaker than himself. And without any insult to you or your father, he could have beat your father without that coward move. Unless..." he let it hang a moment.

Steve understood what the Chief meant "Unless dad is a better fighter than what he appeared to be and that's why Matthew didn't want to face him." Even if he wasn't sure how his father manage to do it, he saw the proof at the hospital.

Steve was going to add something else when he changed his mind.

"You have something else to say?" the Chief asked when he saw Steve hesitated.

"I rather not Sir, I'll probably get myself in more trouble than what I am already."

Masters lift one eyebrow "Probably, but I still want to hear it."

"If I were you Sir, I would double check the reports Mike Burroughs will gave you."

"And why would I do that?"

Steve wasn't the kind of man who would tell on someone, but this was just too much for him to keep quiet. "I went to the bar myself, even if I had no business being over there. I heard that Mike didn't talk to any witnesses. All he did was arrest Curtis and his gang and promise them they would be out tomorrow morning."

Chief Masters took the information "Who was with Mike when he investigated that incident?"

"Officer Tom Wallach."

A few moments later, someone knocked at the door.

"Come." Chief Masters said.

The door opened and Mike Burroughs walked in but when he saw Steve, he ignored him completely.

"What were you doing investigating the fight at The Blue Flamingo?" Masters asked him. "That was just a simple police matter."

"I happened to pass by Sir and offered my help." Mike said.

"Give me what you have so far."

"There's not much to say. They insulted each other, and went for it. That's all."

Steve shook his head. "You could have at least told me my father was there."

"I've already told you that I forgot. What more do you want from me?"

"What's this?" Masters asked.

"It's nothing Sir. I just forgot to call Steve about his father." Mike said.

"That's not what you told me Mike. It's only when I mention his name to you, that you asked if we're related. Like you didn't already know."

Chief Masters looked at both. "That's enough." he shouted. "Lt. Sloan, you can go back to the hospital now, I'll let you know what sanction you'll received. But on your way out, tell officer Wallach I want to see him."

Steve stood up "Yes Sir." and left.

"Not you Burroughs." Masters said as Mike followed Steve. "I'm not finished with you.

Mike sat down but immediately the Chief said "I didn't gave you the permission to sit."

Mike stood up "I'm sorry."

"Now I want to know exactly why you didn't tell Steve about his father."

"I've already said why, Sir."

Chief Masters stood up and walked directly in front of him. "What do take me for?"

Mike stared at him, then quickly looked away.

"I don't understand you." Chief Masters said "What did you think you would gain by not telling Steve his father had been injured? Someone was going to tell him anyway."

"I knew somebody would, but it wasn't gonna be me."

"Does this as anything to do with your own father?"

Mike stubbornly kept silence.

"You seem to forget that Dr. Sloan never brought charges against your father."

"It doesn't matter if he didn't, my father's reputation was ruined."

"Then let me tell you something." Masters said, standing an inch from Mike's face. "Your father got what he deserved, he knew that by accepting a bribe, he would pay for it. He's got nobody else to blame but himself and you should do the same. If Dr. Sloan had went on with the charges, your father would have been kicked out off the force. But he pleaded with us to dropped the charges. If it had been me, I wouldn't have hesitated a moment."

Again, there was a knock at the door.

"Come." Masters said.

"You want to see me Sir?" Tom asked.

Chief Masters nodded "Yes, close the door please."

Tom did and walked towards Masters.

"Now give me your report of what happened in the bar?"

Tom hesitated. Steve told him what happened in the office and said that he had mention his name to the Chief. "I beg your pardon Sir, but I wasn't the one in charge of the investigation."

Masters nodded "I know that but you were there and I'm sure you can come up with something better than what I've heard so far."

Tom repeated everything to the Chief, who listened very carefully. When Tom finished, Masters thanked him and told him to returned to his desk.

When Tom was gone, Chief Masters looked at Mike. "You heard what officer Wallach said? How come you have a different report than him?"

"That's his opinion not mine."

Masters sat back at his desk, opened the drawer and took out a blank letter and wrote something on it.

"May I returned to my desk, Sir?" Mike asked.

Chief Masters nodded his head and stood up "Oh yes, you will. But not the same desk. Starting from now, you are being demoted. You're going back as a patrol officer."

Mike was shocked "May I ask why Sir?"

"Ever since you're become a detective, which has only been six month now, you have been nothing but trouble. There hasn't been one department who hasn't complained about you and you only choose the cases you want to work on. But when I heard that you're the one who took care of the incident at the bar, I didn't understand why until now. It's only because it involved Dr. Sloan."

When the word got around that Burroughs was called in the Chief office, a lot of detectives stood close to Masters door and listen. And when they heard the word 'demote', there was a silent cheer between them.

Masters wasn't finished "I tried to be as lenient as Dr. Sloan was with your father. But with the report you just gave me." he shook his head "I can't. This as put the last nail in your coffin." The Chief gave Mike the letter he wrote. "You will report to Sgt. Bellow now."

Mike took the letter "I will appeal this decision Sir."

Masters shrugged "Do whatever you want. Now get out of my office."

"Yes Sir." Mike said and left.

---

After dinner Billy Anderson went to see his new friends. They asked Billy not to tell anyone, mostly his parents that he was hanging with them. "You're a man now Billy." Butch told him. "They don't have to know everything you do."

Billy innocently agreed. So he started telling his friends about a woman who lived not far from his home, and that she had just lost her husband.

One of the two friends known as Butch said "Hey, maybe we could go and help her clean the house, you know just help her."

Peter, the other one, knew exactly what Butch meant by that. "Yeah Billy, I'm sure she's gonna need all the help she can get. We love to help people."

Billy looked at them smiling. "Would you really do that?"

"Sure!" said Butch "Hey, it's nothing for us."

---

When Steve arrived at the hospital, he was told that Mark was now in the OR, having the bones in his hand fixed. He took the elevator and went up to the third floor. Once there, Steve saw Amanda waiting in the corridor.

"Amanda, how's dad's doing?"

"Steve, thank God your back in one piece." she said when Steve walked to her.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he said looking surprised.

Amanda didn't find it funny "Mark was worried that you might kill the guy."

"Don't worry, he's still in his cell-- alive."

"And looking at your hand, he must be flat on his back." she took his hand. "Come on and I'll put something on it."

"But what about dad?"

"Mark's gonna be there for a while.

Down in the ER, Amanda was cleaning Steve's hand.

"What did the x-ray reveal about dad's hand? Is it broken?" Steve asked.

Amanda nodded "Mark's got two knuckles broken."

Steve shook his head "So it's mean that dad will be out of work for a while?"

"Mark won't be able to do any surgery that's for sure but it doesn't mean he can't come back to work." she said. "Steve, even if Mark explained that he had no choice, I can't see him fighting."

"Neither can I Amanda but he did it." Steve said but couldn't help to smile. "Who would have thought, dad in a fight at his age?"

"I couldn't agree with you anymore than that." Chief Masters said as he walked in. "Dr. Bentley." he said nodding towards her, he turned to Steve. "I just came to see how your father was doing."

"He's in the OR at the moment, for his hand." Steve told him.

Masters asked Steve to follow him, Steve did.

"I know you will hear of this soon enough but I decided to tell you myself." Chief Masters said. "I've just demoted Mike from his position."

Steve didn't know how to react in front of the Chief.

"You don't have to hide your emotion Lt.. It's the same as anybody else's at the station."

Steve nodded "Yes I am happy. Mike didn't belong there Sir."

Masters put both hands behind his back and walked a few feet and stopped. "I've tried to give him a chance, to prove himself. But all he had in mind was revenge."

"I don't understand Sir, revenge for what?" Steve asked.

"You and your father but mostly your father."

Steve stared at him. "But dad never brought the charges against Mike's father."

"He knows that but he doesn't care. Now Mike's exactly where his father was when he was demote."

"Sir, now we're going to have a very angry patrol officer." Steve told him.

Chief Masters agreed "He will be watched, I promise you that. Now about you, I'm suspending you. If you want to appeal the decision, go right ahead, I won't stop you."

Steve shook his head. He wasn't surprised, he knew it would happened. "It will gave me a chance to be with dad."

"Your suspension is for three days but I'm giving you the rest of the week off." Masters said with just a hint of a smile.

"Thank you Sir."

"One day Lt. you're going to have to tell me who you got that bad temper from. It can't be from your father, unless he was like you when he was younger." Masters said before leaving.

Steve shook his head "I doubt that Sir." No, he knew where it came from and he didn't like it.

Half an hour later, Jesse came out of the OR and walked towards Steve and Amanda who had returned upstairs.

"How did it go Jess?' Steve asked. "Amanda told me that dad broke two knuckles."

"Everything went fine, Mark doesn't have a cast on his hand yet. We'll have to wait for the swelling to go down first." Jesse said. "But..."

"But what?" Steve asked. "Jesse, what is it?"

"The thing that is worrying me the most is that Mark lost consciousness and that Steve, can be dangerous."

Steve didn't understand "Dad seemed fine when we spoke to him."

Jesse agreed with him "Yes he did. However after you left, Mark complained that his head hurt him and he felt dizzy. We sent him for a cat-scan, but didn't find anything wrong."

"What did you think you were going to find?" Steve asked concerned.

"Facial bone fracture, blood clots, bleeding of the brain, even swelling of the brain, things that may not show now but maybe later." Jesse said. "Just as a precaution, I want Mark to stay here tonight. At the moment the swelling is on the outside, his right eye is completely shut."

"Is dad's eye still blurry?" Steve asked.

Jesse nodded. "It's not permanent, it's going to last a few days maybe less. Steve, do you know how it started?"

"Five guys approached dad and his friends, the bartender didn't know the exact words that were said but those guy threw the first punch."

"Well I hope it's the last time Mark's involved in a fight." Amanda told them. "He was lucky they only used their fists, who knows next time, it may be knifes and gun."

Just then, Mark came out on a wheelchair.

Steve was shock to see his father, even after Jesse told him.

"Dad have you seen your face?" Steve asked.

"No and I don't want to. Just the feeling is enough for me." Mark said. "Jesse told you that I'm staying here tonight?"

Steve lowered his head and nodded.

"Come on Steve, it's only a precaution, that's all." Mark said reassuringly.

"I know dad but after what Jesse said of all the things that you can have, I'm worried."

Mark smiled "Don't you know yet that we Sloan's have hard head? It takes more than a fight to break it?"

Steve couldn't help but smile at that remark.

"That's a good boy." Mark said "And if you promise me to be nice, I'll bring you something when I go back home."

"We too?" Ask Amanda pointing at her and Jesse.

Mark nodded "For the two of you, it will be diner at my house when I have the cast on my hand. But first Amanda, there's something I want you to do for me."

"Sure Mark, what is it?"

"The friends I was with should all be down in the ER. Go and see how they're doing? Can you do that?"

Amanda nodded "What's their names?"

Mark gave her the names. "Take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

Steve looked at his father "I have to make a phone call, I'll see you later." and followed Amanda to the elevator.

Steve waited to be inside the elevator and the doors closed. "I'm coming with you." he told Amanda.

"I thought you had a phone call to make?" she told him.

Steve shook his head "I want to talk to them."

Amanda didn't like the way Steve said that. "I hope it won't be the same kind of talk that you used with the guy who hit Mark?"

The elevator doors opened "It will depend on their answers." Steve told her as he got out.

They walked to the ER and Amanda asked around for them. She was told that they were all in the waiting room, asking for Dr. Sloan condition.

Tom was sitting with his friends and discussing what had happened.

"Well we had a good fight and didn't ended up in jail." he told Jack.

"Maybe that's where you all should have ended up." Steve told them, standing behind them.

They all turned and saw a man and a doctor looking at them.

"Hey! You're Mark's kid, aren't you?" Tom said as he approached, his hand extended.

Steve didn't returned the gesture, he just stared at him.

It was Amanda who approached Tom and shook his hand. "My name is Dr. Bentley. Mark's wants to know how you all doing."

"Well as you can see, we all have bruises, nothing broken," Tom told her and put a hand on the top of his nose. "How's Mark and can we see him?"

"Dr. Sloan broke some bones in his hand and got a deep laceration over the eye." Amanda explain. "As to see him, I will have to asked his doctor."

Steve had been silent so far but now it was time for the questioning. He walked towards Tom. "I want to know why you all went to a bar instead of going to a restaurant as my father wanted?"

"The restaurant was your father's idea not ours." Tom said. "He knew that it wasn't where we wanted to go."

"Then why did Mark say that he knew it was going to happen?" Amanda asked remembering what Mark told her. "Did it happened before?"

Steve looked at her "Dad said that?"

Amanda nodded "Yes, Mark said that he felt so stupid because he knew it was going to happen."

"Did it?" Steve asked looking at Tom.

Jack came forwards "Yes, it did. We all spend a night in jail, including your father."

"When was that?" Steve asked surprised.

"About six years ago." Jack told him. "We all got drunk, except Mark. He had a couple of drinks but not enough to get drunk. We finished the night in jail."

"Why?" Amanda asked "Because you were too drunk or because you were in a fight?"

Jack lowered his head "Both."

Steve turned his back to them and closed his eyes.

Amanda looked at him and place he hand on his arm, sensing that he was getting angry. "Steve?"

"I'm alright Amanda." he said and turned to face Tom and Jack. "I don't know how dad can call you his friends if all you do is to get drunk and fight?"

"It's not always like that Steve." Tom told him. "The only time we do that is at a friends funeral, we all gather and drink to him. It's a pact that we made a long time ago."

Steve shook his head "To take one drink to whoever died and to get drunk is two different things."

Tom laughed and looked at his friends "That's exactly what Mark said."

"And you find this funny." Steve said very seriously.

"We're not laughing at your father," Tom started to say "just at..." then he stop. "Forget it. You're angry at us and no matter what we say, won't calm you. I thought you were like Mark but you're not, you have a very short temper." Tom shook his head "No, you reminded me more of your grandfather."

If there was one thing Steve didn't like to hear, was to be compared to his grandfather.

"Now I understand the kind of friends you like to have." Steve told Tom. "They have to be ready to say yes to you all the time, no matter what's the reason are. To follow you anywhere you go without complaining." Steve then pointed a finger at Tom. "And this is where it's going to end. I don't want to see you if you're going to get my father in trouble again, because that's all you seem to do."

"Steve!" Amanda said, shocked.

Tom looked at Steve. "Wait a minute, are you accusing us for what happened to Mark?" It's true that we asked your father to drink more but he refused. We even told him to leave if he want to but again he refused. And we didn't start the fight, they did. So before making some accusation, you better have your facts straight."

"Then how come my father only gets in trouble when you guys are around?"

Tom stared at Steve "I'm telling you, we are not responsible for Mark's injuries. We couldn't have done that."

"How could you know? You were probably too drunk." Steve said, not backing away from his accusation.

Jack pulled Tom back "Never mind Tom, we better leave."

Tom nodded and followed the others out.

When they were gone, Amanda stared at Steve. "Steve, I know that you're angry at what happened but you had no rights telling them that. It's Mark decision, not yours."

"Amanda it was that or I was going to kick them out." Steve said as he looked at her.

"If Mark's still friends with them it's because he knows them. Don't you think he would have broke his friendship if they had surprised him all the time?"

Steve lifted both hands in the air. "Alright Amanda, I did a mistake. I was angry."

Amanda sigh "Will you tell Mark what you did?"

"Only if he asked me." Steve said.

"And how will he know that?" Amanda asked.

Steve looked at her "He will, dad knows me to well. He will figure it out. Or they will call him."

"I'm going back to Mark and tell him how his friends were." Amanda.

Just then, Jesse joined them. "If you want to talk to Mark, he's in room 202. So where are is friends?"

"They had to go." Steve said.

Jesse found it strange "After what happened, they could have at least talked to Mark."

"Well Mark, I think your friends were more lucky than you." Amanda said as she stood beside his bed. "There's one guy, I think his name was Tom. He said there was nothing broken but I think he broke his nose. He started to have black lines under the eyes. But the rest of them only had bruises."

Mark nodded "Are they coming up?"

Amanda looked nervously at her hands, while Steve looked out the window.

Mark looked from Amanda to Steve "What happened?"

Nobody answered him.

"Amanda," Mark said "I think they are paging you."

She looked at him "Yes, I think you're right." and quickly made an exit, grabbing Jesse by his arm on the way.

Jesse looked at her "I didn't hear anything."

"Come outside and you'll hear it." Amanda told him pushed him out of the room and closed the door.

"Hey! What's going on?" he asked her.

"Never mind Jesse, this is really none of our business."

Jesse looked at the door "Why am I always the last one to know."

Mark waited for Steve to explain what happened but Steve kept quiet.

"Steve, what did you say or do to them?"

"I told them not to see you again if they were going to get you in trouble." Steve finally said.

Mark looked at his son and shook his head. "Why did you do that? Do I go see your friends and say to their faces, I don't like them?"

"Dad, how can you call them your friends, when all they do is get drunk and get you in trouble? Because from what I've heard, the last time it happened, you spend a night in jail with them." Steve asked angry.

To Steve surprised, Mark lost his temper.

"This time Steve, you went too far. You had no right, you hear me. No right at all telling them that. What happened back then and today, was entirely my fault."

Steve felt like a kid who had been ground by his father. "I'm sorry."

"Being sorry won't fixed the problem." Mark took a couple of breath to calmed himself. "What happened, Steve? Someone must have told you something, to make you say things like that?"

Steve looked at his father "Tom told me..." he hesitated "Tom said that I was more like grand-dad than you." Steve shook his head "I'm sorry dad but to me, it's an insult."

"Steve, you're using this excuse just to get angry." Mark said.

Steve was going to reply to this but Mark stopped him. "I'm not finished. Didn't I warn you before that it would happened?"

Steve had no choice but to agreed with his father."Yes you did."

"Then why is it still a surprise when you hear comments like that?" Mark demand.

"I don't like it dad. I'm not like him at all."

Mark knew that this argument will never be over as long as their will be people who remembered his father.

"Steve, listen to me. The only people that I know who knew my father, are the one you saw downstairs. Do you see them often?"

"No I don't." Steve answered without looking at his father. "I don't understand why they..."

Mark looked at him and sighed "What do you want me to say Steve, that it's not true? Well it is. You and my father are identical when it comes to the temperament. He lost his temper and got angry easily exactly like you do. However that's where the comparisons end."

"Just that is enough to described his full personality." Steve said.

Mark shook his head "No it doesn't. And you remembered him enough to know that."

"How come you're not like him?" Steve asked.

Mark choose not to answer that."You can change all that by trying to control your emotion and anger."

"I've tried before." Steve said.

"All I'm asking is that you take a moment to think before reacting. It shouldn't be too hard to do? Don't let your impulse run your life."

The night went along without any complication and Mark didn't complained of anymore headache. In the morning he went through another cat-scan and everything was clear. So Jesse gave him the permission to leave the hospital.

---

Steve finally brought his father home.

"Aren't you working today?" Mark asked Steve.

"Guess what dad?" Steve said smiling "They gave me a week off to be with you."

Mark looked at Steve impressed "Was that before or after you went to see the guy who hit me?"

Steve looked away "After."

"Steve! You've been suspended for a week?"

"No that's not true, only three days, the rest the Chief gave them to me."

Mark shook his head "I'm supposed to feel better?"

"It's done now dad." Steve said "There's nothing I can do to change it."

"But if you think you're just going to sit around and do nothing, " Mark told him "I've got news for you."

"Anything you want me to do dad? I'll do it. Like what?"

Mark lifted one hand "Let me think about it, I'll find something."

"Dad, where did you learn how to fight?"

"You think you're the only one who know how to use your fists?"

Steve lifted his shoulders. "I didn't say that. I was just wondering..."

Mark smiled. "I was never a fighter Steve, I don't like to use this method of resolving any problems. But if I have to, I will."

"Dad, will you press charges against the guy who hit you?" Steve asked but when he saw his father hesitated, he added "It will gave us a chance to put Matthew behind bars for a long time. The last time we tried, he walked away free, because the charge were dropped."

"It's not the first time he's done that?" Mark asked.

Steve shook his head "He used to do it to his wife and kids. She changed her mind because she was afraid of him."

Mark didn't have to hear more than that to be convinced. "I'll do it."

"Good dad and you won't be alone. We have the bartender as a witness."

---

Mark had promised Jesse and Amanda, that when he would get the cast on his hand, he would invited them to his house. That day had come.

Steve was already home when they arrived.

"Hey, where's Mark?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know. Dad said he had something to do first." Steve said as he was putting the plates on the table.

Jesse laughed "He's probably happy he can drive his car now that he's got a cast on."

"How can he drive?" Amanda wondered "With a cast on his right hand, how will he change gears?

"Don't worry about that Amanda. Dad learned very quickly how to do it."

---

"Here Mark." Anne said.

Mark had stopped by her house to picked her up. "And you don't remember the combination?" he asked her.

She shook her head "I know Harry wrote it down somewhere but I don't know where I put that piece of paper."

Mark looked at the safe then at her. "In that case, there's nothing I can do."

Anne was angry at herself "Oh Harry made me promise that I would gave the present to you. Don't you know anybody who can open a safe?"

"I'm sure there's a way. I'll asked Steve if he knows someone." Mark said. He looked at his watch. "We better be on our way or else Steve will be worried."

Anne nodded "Let me see if all the windows are closed first." She heard someone knocking at the door.

"Anne, do you want me to get it?"

"Sure Mark."

Mark walked to the door and open it. "Yes?" He said and saw three teenagers.

Billy Anderson was one of the three. "Anne home?" he asked.

"Just a moment." Mark told him.

Anne recognized Billy's voice and walked towards him. "Hello Billy." She turned to Mark who stood by. "Mark, I would like you to meet Billy Anderson."

Mark extended his left hand "Sorry, I can't used my right hand."

Billy laughed at the way he had to shook his hand. "They're my friends." he said as he pointed at them.

"Hi guys." Mark said.

"We came to help you, Anne." Billy said.

"Oh I'm sorry Billy. But I'm going out tonight." Anne told him. "Why don't you come back tomorrow. I'm sure there will be enough work for all of you."

"OK." said one of Billy's friends." Thanks lady." and they all left.

Mark waited for Anne."You have them working for you now?"

"Billy? Yes, he's a nice kid. But the other two. I don't know them." She looked around one last time "I'm ready to go." she said.

Mark open the door for her, she walked out first and Mark followed. Anne locked the door. They walked to his car and again, Mark opened the door for her Once she was in, he closed the door behind her, got in the car and drove away.

Billy and his friends were walking down the street, when they saw Anne leave.

Butch and Peter looked at each other and knew what to do.

"OK Billy, you go home now." Butch said. "Peter and I are going home also, we'll see you tomorrow."

"Can I come too." Billy asked them.

"You can't come with us." Peter told him. "We work tonight, just go home."

Billy was disappointed "I could work with you two."

"Tell you what," Butch said "Tomorrow night, we'll let you come with us, OK?"

Billy thought about it and nodded. "You promise?"

"Yes we promise. We have to go or we'll be late." And both left, leaving Billy behind.

They kept walking and once in a while, they looked behind to see if Billy was following them, but he wasn't.

"We'll wait in an hour and go back to her house." Butch told Peter.

"Yeah but let's hope she wont be back by then." Peter answered.

Butch nodded. "We'll see."

---

Steve, Amanda and Jesse were waiting for Mark.

"Where could he have gone?" Jesse asked. "I'm hungry."

Steve shrugged "He didn't say where."

Just then Steve lifted his head. "Dad's home. I just heard his car in the driveway."

"Dad?" Steve walked toward his father when Mark opened the door. "Oh, hi Mrs. Lockead." he said when he saw her.

"Hello Steve but call me Anne." she answered back.

Jesse and Amanda stood up and looked at the woman who was with Mark.

"Anne, I would like you to meet two colleagues but mostly two dear friends of mine." Mark said as he waved at them to come closer. "This is Amanda Bentley and Jesse Travis. Kids, this is Anne Lockead an old friend."

Anne shook their hands.

Amanda and Jesse did the same.

"We'll put out one more plate." Steve said.

After the diner Amanda with Jesse's help, cleaned the table, while Mark, Anne and Steve sat in the leaving room.

"Mark, are you going to ask Steve?" Anne said.

Steve looked at his father "Ask me what dad?"

Mark nodded "Anne told me that Harry left something for me but that he placed it in a safe in their house."

"And I forgot the combination." Anne told him.

Steve looked from one to the other "I can't open a safe." He replied.

"I know that Steve." Mark said. "But I thought that maybe you knew someone who could."

"The only safecracker Steve knows, is behind bars." Jesse replied as he and Amanda joined them.

"Jesse, I was thinking of someone who could do it legally." Mark told him.

"I'm afraid Jesse's right dad." Steve said. "I don't know anybody who does that, but I could always ask."

Anne looked at Steve "I would really like that. I don't know what the present is but I know it meant a lot to Harry."

Steve smiled at her. "I'll ask around."

"Thank you." she said and put her handbag on her laps and opened it. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to Mark. "I too, have something for you. It's not much but I know it will bring back good memories."

"This is for me?"

"Yes, open it." Anne told him.

Mark did and when he saw what was inside, all he could say was "Oh my God!" out loud.

"What, what is it?" Jesse asked as he and Amanda walked behind the sofa where Mark and Anne sat.

---

While everybody where having diner at the Sloan's house, Butch and Peter came back at Anne's house. They walked to the backyard and checked for a way to get inside. The windows were all locked, so they checked the back door. In no time, Butch had it open.

"OK. Let's search the bedroom." he told Peter.

They walked to it and started to search the room. While Butch searched the drawers, Peter open the closet. "Hey Butch, look."

Butch looked at what Peter was pointing to. "Well look at that. A safe. Do you think you can open it?"

"It should be easy enough." Peter said as he knelt in front of it.

---

"Anne, where did you got those pictures?" Mark asked as he looked at them.

"They're mine. I took them." Anne said.

Mark shook his head "Oh Anne, I can't take them."

"It's alright Mark, these are doubles." Anne reassured him.

Steve looked over his father shoulders "Hey dad, that's you."

Jesse and Amanda bent even closer to looked at them.

"Wow! That's really you Mark?" Jesse asked. "How old were you?"

"Eighteen." Mark said.

Anne stared at Mark.

"Okay, almost eighteen."

Anne looked at Jesse "Mark was exactly seventeen. I remember it well because this picture was taken after my wedding."

Mark nodded remembering "And it was three days before we all left for the Pacific."

"Dad! you lied about your age went you enlisted." Steve said taunting him.

"Not exactly, I was going to be eighteen on the same year."

"Nine months after he enlisted." Anne added.

Jesse didn't understand. "It's seem like you were in a rush. Why didn't you waited until you were eighteen?"

"Because I was the youngest in the circle of friends who had already enlisted. And I wanted to leave at the same time they did." Mark explained.

Steve looked at his father "You were really that close, weren't you?"

Mark nodded.

Anne started to laughed "Yes they were. But God the jokes they played."

"On who?" Jesse asked intrigued.

"Mostly to their college teachers or the Dean."

Steve, Jesse and Amanda looked at Mark.

"You too dad?"

Mark was a bit embarrassed "Yes, even me. Well, it's only natural when you have a bunch of guys locked in a school for six months without going anywhere. The only time we went home was for Christmas and summer. So what do you do to pass the time?"

"You played jokes?" answered Jesse. "I did the same thing with my teachers but never to a Dean. What did you do?"

"Which one are you going to tell, Mark?" Anne asked.

Steve stared at him "Which one? How many did you do?"

Mark tried to remember and shook his head. "I don't know, I was there two years."

"Mark, what did you do to the Dean?" Jesse asked impatiently.

Mark turned to Anne. "I told you he was curious."

Anne smiled at Jesse. "Yes but you know Mark that's a good trait in a person, you were the same."

Jesse couldn't have been more happy to hear that. Anything that would compare him with Mark, was a compliment. "Thank you." he said to Anne.

"Okay, what did I do." Mark said. "Well there was the time when all the skeletons disappear from the medical classes and ended up in the Dean's office. All sitting at his conference table, dressed in the teachers clothing. And you know it's not easy to carry a skeleton without making any noises. We couldn't run but had to walked briskly and without our shoes or socks on."

Jesse stared at Mark "The shoes, I understand. It would have made to much noise. But the socks?"

Mark smiled "Those floor were like an skating-rink, they were very slippery. Well anyway, Sam, Harry and I had to carry eight skeletons, one by one to the Dean's office, in less than an hour. Because every nights, the watchman would come and locked all of the classes doors."

"You were never caught?" Steve asked.

"No. You have to understand that we weren't the only ones doing pranks." Mark said. "When one group did something, it was a challenge to try to do something better then what they did."

"So those skeletons disappeared many times?" Amanda asked.

Mark nodded. "Sometimes we would find them hanging in the trees or under a teachers car, the bathroom, anywhere you can imagine. Until the Dean decided it was enough."

"What did he do?" Jesse ask.

"He had them locked in his offices at night." Mark said. "Since we didn't had the skeletons, we had to find something else to do."

"Dad, what would have been the consequence if someone would have been caught?"

Mark shrugged "It would have depended on the pranks and how many times the person would have been caught."

"No one was ever throw out of the college?"

"Not while I was there." Mark said "Then again, most of them came from rich families."

Steve understood "Which mean, they could do anything they wanted without being punished."

"What else did you do?" Jesse asked.

"At another time, we dismantle a table where the Dean would sit for dinner. But that one was tricky, because it would only collapse if you put the right weight on it and only on the side he was sitting."

"All the plates and food on the table would fall on him." Amanda said.

"You got it." Mark smiled.

Steve couldn't believe it. "And I thought I was bad in school, but why the Dean?"

"I don't know, it was more fun with him." Mark told Steve. "And now that I think of him, he reminded me of Norman Briggs. He was about the same kind of guy but with a better sense of humor. Anyway, none of the pranks I did hurt anyone."

"Did it work?" Jesse asked.

"Oh yes it did but we didn't know that he was having some of the Deans from the other colleges dining with him, at the same table. Sam, Harry and I were sitting very close to his table and heard him saying that his college never allowed student to play pranks. But when he said that, he looked around, like he was hoping nothing would happened. And just as someone place the soup bowl on the table and in front of him, it collapsed.

"There most have been a teacher who suspected you?" Jesse asked.

"The few times it happened, Harry took the blame." Mark said.

"You let someone else take the blame for you? Mark, I can't believed that." Amanda said.

Anne explained. "My husband came from a very rich family, which in returned gave a lot to the college. So no matter what he would or wouldn't do in some cases, they wouldn't dare kick Harry out. That's why he didn't mind taking the blame, but he knew that if Mark would have been caught, he would have been history."

Amanda looked at her "If they were that rich, it means that he went to the best private college."

Anne nodded "Yes, that's true."

Then Amanda looked at Mark "Don't get me wrong Mark but could your parents afford that?"

"No they couldn't. I went there on a scholarship." Mark told her. "In those days, the salary of a cop was nothing to compared with what Steve is making right now."

"What about Sam?" Steve asked "Were they rich?"

Mark shook his head "Well it depend on whom you compare them. If it was with Harry's family, no they weren't. But with my parents, yes."

"Wait a minute Mark." Amanda said staring at him. "You left college at seventeen? And you were there only two years. It's mean you were fifteen when you got that scholarship?"

"I wasn't a bright student but a good one. I gobbled everything faster than the majority." Mark explain.

"You didn't do any pranks with cadavers?" Jesse asked Mark. He was more interest with this kind of stories.

Mark nodded. "Oh yes we did but that was when I was a first year resident, not in college. No, the college years were more simple pranks, the fun really started after." he told Jesse as he went back at looking at the pictures.

---

"Peter, I thought you said it would be easy." Butch said.

Peter nodded "Don't worry. It will take a bit longer but there's no safe that I can't open."

"Make it quick, she may come back at any moment." Butch told him.

---

Steve saw the expression on his father, as he stared at the picture he was holding in his hand and looked at it. "Is that grand-dad?"

Mark was searching for words "It's...the first time I see this picture."

Anne put her hand on his arm "When I found this photo, I hesitated before making a double. But I took a chance and did it anyway.

Amanda looked at the picture "It's strange Mark. I look at your father and I see you in him but without any resemblance, there's something of Steve in him also."

"When was this picture taken?" Steve asked to Anne or his father, which ever would want to answer.

It was Mark who answered. "A couple of months before I enlisted."

"What did he say when he learned that you joined?" Jesse asked.

Mark didn't answered right away. "At first he didn't like it but after a while he accepted it."

Anne felt that Mark wasn't comfortable talking of his father and decided that maybe this was the time to leave.

"This was fun but I'm a bit tired." Anne said. "If you don't mind Mark, I would like you to drive me home."

Steve immediately stood up. "I'll drive you if you want?" and looked at his father.

Mark nodded "Do you mind Anne?"

Anne smile back at him "Any Sloan is fine with me."

Mark stood up and walked with her to the door and kissed her before she left.

Anne turned around "It was a pleasure meeting all of you and next time, I'll invited you to my house." she waved at them and left with Steve.

Mark stood in the doorway, both hands in his pockets as he looked at Anne getting in the car with Steve.

"Well Mark," Amanda said. "Jesse and I should be leaving too."

Jesse stared at her, he wasn't ready to leave yet. He had many questions to ask Mark. But Amanda nudged him and whispered "Let's go."

Jesse looked at Mark and understood "Yeah, you're right."

Mark turned to them "What did you say?"

"We're leaving too." Amanda repeated as she walked to him and kissed him before she left the house.

Mark returned the gesture and patted Jesse on the shoulder. "See you kids later."

Once in his car, Jesse looked at Amanda. "Did you see the expression on Mark's face when he saw the picture of him and his father?"

Amanda shook her head "How could I? I was behind him."

"It was strange, like it was more a shock for Mark to see it than he was happy."

"What are you getting at Jesse?"

"Did you also notice that when Steve and I asked a question about Mark's father, Mark would hesitated before answering?"

Amanda didn't understand where he was going.

"I haven't known Mark as long as you, but I never heard him speak of his father before tonight." Jesse said. "Has Mark said anything about him in front of you?"

Amanda had to admit that Jesse was right "No he hasn't."

"And there's another thing too. There's no picture of him in Mark's house." Jesse said. "That picture was taken before Mark enlisted, what do you think happened?"

"Jesse, will you stop." Amanda told him. "If Mark chooses not to talk of him, it's none of our business."

"You're not a bit curious about this?" Jesse asked her.

Amanda shook her head. "No!"

"And I thought woman were more curious than man."

---

Anne looked at Steve as he drove and saw him glancing at her from time to time.

"What question do you want to ask?" she said smiling.

"Dad's got a big wooden chess in his bedroom where he keeps a lot of souvenirs. He's got a lot of pictures of his parents and on some of them, we see dad and aunt Dora. But all the pictures are when he was younger. There's none of him with them when he's older and I always wondered why but I never asked him."

Anne understood how Steve felt. "Your grandfather had always wished that Mark would have been policeman. And Mark had always thought that his father would have been proud of him when he won that scholarship. Because as you know, in those days, you didn't need high school to be a cop." Anne fell silent a moment. "Something happened between the two of them when Mark came back from the war. I've ask Harry and Sam but none of them knew what. Mark's father became more... it's hard to explain, I think the only word I can use is 'cold'. And it lasted until your grandfather died."

"That's how I remember him." Steve said.

"All I can say about your grandfather is that he was respected and feared at the same time. But I don't know if people respected him because they like him or they fear him."

"What about your husband and Sam?" Steve asked her.

"They didn't like him but never told Mark."

Steve didn't look at Anne when he said "I know what happened between them but... I'm not sure if it's true."

Anne stared at him. "You know? Who would have told you?" she asked.

"Aunt Dora." Steve said. "She told me she was there when it happened."

Anne agreed. " Yes. I know what you mean. She always seem to exaggerate everything. But Steve, whether it's true or not, I rather not know. It's in the past now, however I'm sure it crossed your father's mind when he saw that picture."

"Anne, why did you put it with the other pictures if you knew it would bring those memories back?" Steve wanted to know.

"Because no matter what happened, or how hurt he was, Mark never hated his father."

Steve thought of what his aunt told him and what Anne said. "So it could be true." he told her.

"I will tell you something about your father that may surprise you." Anne said. "Then maybe you'll be able to know if what Dora told you is the truth."

---

"Told you I could do it." Peter said.

Butch came back into the room."It's open?"

Peter nodded smiling at him.

"Okay let's look what's inside." Butch said as he open the door of the safe.

Inside was an envelope and a small wooden chess. Butch open the envelope to see if there was money inside but it was only a letter, so he threw the envelope back in the safe. When he came to open the chess, it was locked. He looked at Peter. "There must be something good in this." and pulled out a knife.

Once at Anne's house, Steve parked his car and got out, walked to her side and open the door. Anne took her keys from her bag and dropped something inside the car without realizing it. She accepted Steve's hand and got out. Both walked to the front door, Anne took out her keys, unlocked and open the front door.

"Listen." Peter said and walked out of the room. He peeked in the corridor. "Shit!" Peter ran back to the room. "She's back and we can't leave without her seeing us."

They didn't had time to see what was inside the chess, so Butch grabbed it.

"Is she alone?' Butch asked.

Peter shrugged.

They heard her talking with someone.

"Do you want to come in Steve?" Anne asked.

"No, I rather go back. Otherwise, dad will want to know what we talked about." Steve told her.

"Okay, well I'll see you another day than."

Steve nodded. "I'm glad for the conversation we had." He shook her hand and went back to his car.

Anne stood in the doorway and waited for Steve to leave and waved at him. After that, she walked back inside the house, closed and locked the door.

"What are we gonna do if she comes in?" Peter whispered.

"As soon as she's in the bedroom doorway, we'll just push her on the floor and get the hell out of here." Butch whispered back.

When they got in the house, all the lights were off. Anne was turning them on.

Peter looked at Butch. "What if she recognized us?"

Butch waved at Peter to be silent, as he heard her footsteps getting closer to them. Just as Anne walked in her bedroom, Butch pushed her hard out of the way.

Anne screamed, felt backwards and hit her back against the wall, then dropped to the floor. All she saw was legs passing over her.

Butch didn't wait to see if he had knocked her out. He and Peter ran back to the kitchen and out back door.

---

Steve was about two streets away. "I wonder what dad will say if I repeated what Anne told me?" he asked himself. Then he noticed something on the floor on the car, in front of front seat. He slowed down and picked up the object.

"An address book," he said as he looked inside. "It must have fallen down from Anne's bag when she took her keys out." Steve decided to turned around and gave it back to her.

He was almost there when he slammed on the brakes. Two man came running in front of his car and crossed the road.

"Hey! Watch it will you." Steve yelled at them.

They didn't even look at him as they keep running.

Anne tried to get up but her left side hurt her very much. Then she heard someone knocking at her door.

"Anne, it's me Steve." he said as he knocked. When she didn't answer he knocked again. "Anne?"

Anne yelled as hard as she could "Steve, help me."

Steve heard her call and tried to open the door but it was locked. He ran to the back of the house and found the door wide open. He quickly walked inside.

"Anne, where are you?" he called.

"Over here." she said crying.

Steve found her lying on the floor and bent down beside her. "What happened?" he asked and pulled out his phone.

"There was somebody in the house and they pushed me. Oh Steve, it's hurts."

"I'm calling for an ambulance. Where does it hurt exactly?"

"From my shoulder to my hip and to my back." she said tears in her eyes.

Steve nodded and dial 911.

Then a terrible thought crossed her mind. "Steve, go in my bedroom."

Steve shook his head. "I'll do that later."

"No Steve, do it now. Please." she begged.

"Okay, I'll go look." Steve told her and walked in it.

All of the drawers were opened and the clothes were on the floor. Then he saw in the closet the safe. Steve walked towards it. The only thing left inside was an envelope. He looked around and saw a box of Kleenex. He took one tissue and used it to take the envelope. Carefully, Steve opened it to see if there was anything inside.

Anne looked at Steve when he came back.

He bent beside her. "All the drawers are empty of their contents."

"What about the safe?" she asked worried.

Steve lowered his head. "It was opened. The only thing inside is this envelope with a letter inside."

"Oh no Steve. What was in the safe meant more to me than the money they took from the drawers. If I hadn't lost that number, Mark would have had the gift by now."

"Anne maybe the gift is this letter."

"No Steve, it was a box." Anne said. "A wooden box. That letter too will go to Mark."

In the distance, Steve heard the siren. "Help is on the way, Anne."

"What will I tell Mark?" she asked looking at Steve.

Steve shook his head "That will be the least of his problem. Dad will be more worried about you than the gift."

---

At the beach house, Mark was wondering what took Steve so long.

"Anne must be telling Steve my entire life." he thought. Just then, Steve came in.

"Well it's about time." Mark said as he walked towards him. "What Anne did tell you?"

Steve didn't know how to break the news and Mark saw his expression. "Steve, what is it?"

"Anne's in the hospital right now."

Mark grabbed Steve's arm "What? What happened? Is she alright?"

"There was a robbery at her house." Steve started to explain. "And when I dropped her off, they were still in her house."

Mark put his left hand on his head."Oh my God!"

"Come on dad, I'll drive you there."

---

When they arrived at the hospital, Mark walked directly to the ER and asked where she was.

"Dr. Sloan, what are you doing here?" asked the attending doctor.

"Hey Jimmy." Mark said. "I'm looking for Anne Lockead. She was just brought here."

Jimmy nodded. "Yes, she's over there."

"How is she? Mark asked as he looked in the direction Jimmy pointed.

"We're doing an x-ray of her hip. I'm afraid it's broken. You know her?"

"Yes, she's an old friend."

Jimmy patted Mark on the bacK. "Don't worry Dr. Sloan. We'll take good care of her."

The x-ray technician left. "You'll get them as soon as possible." he told Jimmy.

Mark walked in the room and stood beside Anne.

"Oh Mark!" Anne cried "They took your gift."

Mark shook his head. "Never mind that. At least you're safe and that's more important to me." he said as he wiped the tears in her eyes.

Anne grabbed Mark's left hand. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't forgotten the combination."

"Hush!" Mark tried to calm her. "Anne, listen to me."

But she didn't calm down, she kept crying. Now Mark wondered what was really in that safe for Anne to show so much emotion.

"Look, will find it. I promise you." he hadn't the slightest idea how, since he didn't know what and where it was.

Steve stayed in the back but heard his father and he too wondered how. Then he saw his father looking at him and walked towards them. He understood what he wanted him to say.

"Yes Anne, we'll find it. Don't worry." Steve told her.

Mark smiled at Steve then looked back at Anne. "How can we fail when you have two Sloan working together."

Anne stopped crying and looked at both. "You will find it?"

Mark nodded "Yes we will." From the corner of his eye, he saw Jimmy waving at him. "I'll be right back Anne." he said smiling.

"So what do you have?" Mark asked.

Jimmy put the film under the lights but didn't say anything.

"It's broken but badly broken." Mark said. "Have you called Dr. Callow?"

Jimmy looked at Mark. "Not yet, I was waiting for your opinion."

"If I hadn't broken my hand, I'm the one who would do it but... Call him." Mark finally said.

Mark walked back to Anne. "Well you're going to surgery, you broke your hip. How did it happen?"

"I was walking back to my bedroom and just as I entered, I was pushed backward. I know I hit the wall and fell on the floor. After that, I saw two pairs of legs passing over me. Then I heard Steve knocking at the door."

Mark nodded "They must have just left the house when you arrived Steve. Why did you returned to Anne's?"

Steve looked at him "I found an address book she dropped in the car and I was returning it to her. But now that I think of it, if it's the same people, I almost hit them as I drove back."

"Did you had a chance to look at them?" Mark asked.

"No. Like I told you, they didn't even look went the crossed the street."

"Dr. Sloan?"

Mark turned to see Dr. Callow standing behind him.

"Can I talked with you please?" he asked.

Mark excused himself and walked outside the room.

"Mark, it's a wonder she hasn't broke anything before. Did you see how brittle her bones are?" Dr. Callow said.

"Yes I saw it." Mark said. "She's going to need a hip replacement."

"Even with that, she'll never be able to walk correctly, she's going to need a walking-aid for the rest of her life."

Mark sighed." Knowing how stubborn she is, she will refuse to used it."

He looked at Mark. "She won't have any choice Mark. It's that or be stuck in a wheelchair."

"Are you ready for the surgery?" Mark asked.

"Yes. I'm going to talk to her first, then we'll go up. And no I don't mind if you're there."

While Dr. Callow spoke to Anne, Mark pulled Steve aside.

"I'm going to the OR with them, I'll just watch. In the mean time, can you go back to her house and..."

Steve smiled at his father. "And nose around maybe? Don't worry dad, I'll try to be as nosy as you can be. After the promise we made, we're going to have to be more than nosy. Do you know how long the operation's gonna take?"

Mark shook his head. "Between three to four hours."

"Well I'll have to come back here anyway,"Steve said "you don't have your car. I'll see you later."

---

Steve arrived at Anne's house and talked to a police officer outside.

"Hey Lt." the officer said.

Steve waved at him. "Who's in charge of the investigation?"

"Pat O'Neil." he answered.

"Thanks." Steve said and walked inside the house.

"Did the woman died?" the detective asked Steve as he saw him.

"No, no. She's in surgery right now." Steve told him.

Pat stared at Steve. "Then what are you doing here?" Pat asked.

"Don't worry Pat, I'm not here to take your job away." he told him smiling. "She's a friend of my dad. No I just came to tell you that she thinks there was more than one thief. And that when I came back, the back door was left open." then he repeated to Pat what he told his father about the two man he saw.

Pat took the information.

"You said the back door was wide open?" Pat asked as he walked towards it and waved at Steve to followed him.

"Yes it was."

"The door or any windows hadn't been force open."

Steve bent to looked at the lock on the door. "They could have opened this with a plastic card."

Pat agreed. "I thought of that too. Anyway, we'll have to wait until we can talk to her. Do you know when that could be?"

"My father said that the operation could last as long as four hours." Steve said.

"I'll wait till tomorrow then."

"What about fingerprints?" Steve asked without realizing what he was doing.

Pat stared at him smiling. "Steve! This is my investigation."

"Sorry Pat. I guess it's just a habit. I'm doing that because she's a friend of my father."

Pat smiled "I'm sure if your father would be here, he would be more nosy than that. No, there was very few fingerprints. With that I mean none on the back door, or the safe door, or the envelope inside it."

Steve pointed a finger at him."I was going to ask you about the envelope."

"Did you see what was inside?"Pat asked.

Steve nodded. "It's a letter. The widow said that her husband left it with a gift to my father in the safe. But when I came in, the safe was open and only the envelope was left. Can I take it and show it to my father?"

Pat gave Steve a plastic bag.

---

When Butch and Peter ran away from Anne house, they separated. One going to one direction while the other went another. They would always do that after a robbery, if one would get caught, the other was free.

So when Butch arrived at an empty warehouse, he immediately opened the chess with his knife.

"Oh Shit! He said out loud when he saw what was inside and smiled. "This Peter, you'll never see, it's mine." Butch hide the object in his jacket. "Now I have to found something else to make Peter believed it was in the box." And just to make sure, Butch smashed the box with his foot and hide the pieces under some boxes.

---

When Steve returned to the hospital, his father hasn't come out of the OR yet, so he sat and wait for him. After almost an hour, Steve stood up and started walking the corridor, greeting everyone he met with a smile. When he turned around to walked in the opposite direction, he saw his father coming towards him. Steve met him halfway.

"How did it go, dad?"

"The operation went without any problem. I can't say it will be that simple with Anne." Then he saw the plastic bag Steve had in his hands. "What did you found out?" Mark asked.

"What I've found out, you'll know later." Steve said and lift the plastic bag "A letter was left in the safe. Anne said that it was for you."

Mark took it "Did you read it?"

Steve shook his head. "No. It's address to you dad."

Mark was going to read the contents of the letter but Steve stopped him. "You want to read that here?"

Mark looked at his watch "Kind of late, isn't? Okay, I'll read it in the car."

---

Once in the car, Mark turned on the lights and read the letter.

Dear Mark,

This gift is for you, even if it's not really a gift since it once belong to you. I'm sorry if I waited this long to return it. I just couldn't part with it, after what it did for me. It's only recently that I've learned that it did the same to you, not long before you lend it to me. I've asked Anne to wait after my funeral to gave this to you. Why you may ask? I know you to well Mark, you would have refused it, now you have no choice but to accept and keep this. I also know what you would have said, that it never really belong to you or me, but I don't give a damn, I kept this for too long. So please, in honor of our friendship, don't give it back.

P S: Look at it very carefully and you'll recognize it. The key is to unlock the chess.

So long old friend,

Harry.

Mark stared outside and shook his head.

Steve looked strangely at his father. "You Okay?"

"I should have remember that Harry would leave this kind of note."

Steve didn't understand.

"I'll let you read this at home." Mark told him.

---

At the beach house, Steve sat beside his father. "You want me to reed this?"

"There's nothing personal Steve. Harry's only talking about the gift."

Steve took the letter and read it. When he was finished, Steve looked at his father. "Something that you lend him?"

Mark lifted his shoulders. "Seems like it, but I don't know what he's talking about."

"How could you lend something that didn't belong to you?" Steve asked.

"I don't know Steve. Unless he thought that he was suppose to return it to whoever it belong to, but decided to keep it instead."

Steve gave the letter back to his father. "Why don't we put that aside for the night. It's late dad and you had quite a day."

Mark nodded. "Yes, you're right. See you tomorrow then."

"Night dad." Steve said as he walked downstairs. Mark turned off the lights and walked towards his bedroom. But he didn't sleep, all he thought about was what happened to Anne.

---

The next day, Mark drove to the hospital to see how Anne was doing.

"Hey Mark?" Jesse said as he walked to him. "I was told that Anne had an accident last night, what happened?" then he looked at Mark "Whoa Mark, what happened to you?"

"I didn't sleep to well, Jesse. As for Anne, she was robbed last night."

Jesse was shocked to hear that. "When?"

"When Steve dropped her home, they were still in her house. Anne went inside and was thrown on the floor as they left." Mark explain, yawning at the same time.

"How about some coffee, Mark?"

Mark nodded "I'll get some in the doctors lounge."

Both were filling their cups, when Amanda arrived.

"Mark, what are you doing here?" Amanda asked surprised."You're not coming back to work, are you?"

Jesse explained to Amanda about Anne and what Mark told him.

Amanda was shocked. "Is she alright?"

"Dr. Callow operated on her last night." Mark answered. "Her hip was badly broken."

"Mark, did you spend the night here?" Amanda asked when she saw how tired he was.

Mark yawned again "I was with him during the operation and left past 1:30. I'm back to see how's Anne doing."

"Was there anything of value taken?" Jesse asked.

"Weeee" Mark yawned, "didn't had the chance to talk about that."

Amanda grabbed Mark by the arm "Sit down will you, before you fall asleep standing up." She saw Jesse starting to yawned also. "How did you get here?"

"I drove. What do you think." Mark told her.

Amanda shook her head. "You must have been to sleepy to realize what you did."

"Amanda, I'm only yawning. As soon as I'm sitting in my car, behind the wheel, I'm wide awake. Anyway, to get back at Jesse's question, the only thing we know for sure that was taken from her house was the gift Harry left for me."

Jesse pointed a finger at Mark. "I told you the only one who could open the safe were safecrackers."

"So the gift that Anne didn't know what it was, was taken away." Amanda said.

"What a bummer." Jesse told Mark. "Now there's no way to trace it, since nobody knows what it was."

Mark shook his head. "There may be a way. Harry left me a letter with the gift. The gift was stolen but not the letter."

"You read it? What did it say?" Amanda asked intrigue.

"It suppose to be something that I lent to Harry but didn't really belong to me."

They stared at him but Mark lifted his hand "Don't ask me what it means, I haven't figure that one yet."

END OF CHAPTER 1