"No, you're wrong. If it's worth killing for, shouldn't it be worth dying for?" She had barely finished her question when she turned and leaned forward, letting gravity take her over the edge.
"NO!!" Blair lunged forward, grabbing for her. Jim was right behind him, reaching the edge just as she fell below it. Blair hit the rail, but couldn't reach her arm, and wouldn't have had the strength to hold her. Jim's arms were just that much longer, and he snagged her sleeve just in time. Her momentum had pulled Jim halfway over the side, and Blair was now holding on to his back, trying to keep him from falling with her.
"No! Please, let me go!" Kathy began to struggle and Jim's hand was slipping. "I want to!"
Jim reached down with his other hand and strengthened his hold. He could feel more hands on him now, pulling him back. He held on as best he could to the struggling woman, pulling her up as the other hands and arms pulled him back to the roof. Then he saw more arms reach out and take her, pulling at her arm and shoulder. As they neared the roof, her weight was taken from him and she was lifted by two officers back onto the roof. Blair then helped pull Jim back up.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah Chief, I'm fine."
"Ms Fisher, you are under arrest for the murder of Professor Wilson. You have the right to remain silent..." Simon was reading Kathy her rights as he and the officers led her back to the stairwell.
"You okay?" Jim looked at Blair, who was holding his stomach, watching them disappear into the stairwell.
He looked up at Jim for a moment, then off in the distance. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks, Jim."
He slapped him on the back and pushed him towards the stairs. "Come on Chief. We've got paperwork to do."
"Wait a minute. What do you mean we? I thought being a part of this case, I had to stay out of it?"
"Not a chance, Sandburg. You've been cleared, remember?" They were in the stairway now, halfway down. "That means for the last 12 hours, you've been my partner again, working the case with me. That means..."
"That means you get to make me do the paperwork again?"
"Yep." Jim smiled, patting his friend on the back. As they exited the stairway Simon was standing in the hall, waiting for them. "Hey Simon. Nice to get that one squared away."
Simon nodded, then looked at Blair. "Listen, Sandburg...I'm sorry if it seemed like I doubted you for a while. It's just that as a Captain, I can't let my feelings get in the way of the evidence." He paused and Jim looked at Blair who was nodding in his 'I guess I have to buy that' way. "I hope you understand?"
"Yeah, sure Captain. Just doing your job. Everybody was just doing their job."
Simon nodded and Jim couldn't help but smile. He never really understood when Blair was mocking him, and Jim wasn't about to clue him in.
"So, about Jim's little imprisonment offense. You want to press charges?"
Blair and Jim exchanged looks. "You told him?" Blair asked, looking like he was going to punch Jim again.
"Simon, I told you that in confidence." Jim said at the same time.
Simon was laughing at them both. "Listen, Sandburg, I'm serious. You can have Jim arrested and charged. I'd be happy to process that paperwork myself."
Jim shook his head, looking from Simon, to Blair. "Wait a minute Chief, we discussed that, remember? You said you were all right with it."
Blair smiled a little, thoughtfully. "No, Jim. Actually I never said I was all right with it."
"Oh, now wait just a minute, you can't be serious." Jim looked at Simon. "Come on Simon, whose side are you on?"
"Evidence, Jim. And I still haven't heard what happened to your face."
"True confession time Jim."
Jim rolled his eyes in embarrassed defeat. "Blair got the drop on me, decked me when I uncuffed him."
"Sandburg? Decked you?" Simon began to laugh, patting Blair on the shoulder in an uncharacteristic moment of shared respect. "All right. You know, I was thinking with all this added action you've been seeing, that maybe Jim should teach you a few moves. But I can see you do just find on your own."
Jim sighed, looking from Simon to Blair. "Okay, all right. I'll do the paperwork. Will that take care of it?"
Blair looked at him for a moment before replying. "That, and we do the cold medicine experiment, in the lab, next week."
"The cold? Oh brother." Jim held up both hands in defeat. Considering what his friend had been through in the last few days, he had to agree that a simple experiment, in a controlled environment, was the least he could do. But Jim hated to write reports. "Okay, how about I give you the experiment, and you do the report?"
Blair shook his head. "No. No way Jim, it's all or nothing. Simon, how much time does a person get for something like that?"
Before Simon could reply, Jim gave in. "Okay, okay. I give. I'll do the report." Suddenly he brightened up, remembering. "Hey, maybe I could just dictate the report, and borrow Mr. Kinyon's software?"
"Sure Jim." Blair was grinning. "Just go over to the University, tell Professor Kinyon that you want to borrow the program her husband uses so he doesn't have to listen to her tapes."
Jim's hopes sank. He looked at Simon, then Blair, both of them were smiling. They had him. They both did. "Great, just great." Jim could hear their laughter as he walked down the hall. Once at his desk he pulled out the keyboard and stared at the screen. "This really sucks, Sandburg."
End
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