Karen Simms stepped out of the squad car at the scene at the Stem and Maple only to see Jack Lasher and his boys already there. Damn! Steeling herself for a testosterone influx, she picked her way through the mass of bystanders and reporters to walk to his side. Sandra Mason and the "Action 3" news team were already there, as well. Too bad. There wasn't going to be a dramatic Peter Caine rescue, today.

Reaching the man dressed in his traditional flak jacket and SWAT team hat, she spoke. "Situation?"

"How nice of you to drop by, Captain Simms. Looking beautiful as always", Lasher said sarcastically.

"Cut the crap. Just give me the situation" Karen gave him her patented "get on with it" look, knowing it wouldn't do any good, but throwing it out there anyway."

"Deranged woman on the roof with a gun. Took a six year old kid from County General and is refusing to give her back. Says she's her daughter." He shook his head in disgust.

"Any idea why?"

Strenlich spoke up from behind her," Spoke to the hospital on the way over. Her name's Julia Morgan. She just lost her daughter, Jennifer, to cancer last month. This girl she's taken, ", he stopped and thumbed through his notes, "Brianna Thompson., has the same hair and eye color as her kid. But this kid's asmatic. Doc told me that it's only a matter of time before the stress brings on an attack."

"Great.", Karen turned back to Lasher. She saw Kermit out of the corner of her eye walking up behind him. "How're your talkers doing?" Lasher motioned for them to follow and they walked closer to the steps leading up to the second story roof. Blake was already there, doing final set up a small closed circuit camera and microphone so they could see and hear the action from below.

"Your man, Blake, has wired up the camera. See for yourself. " Karen walked up to the camera.

"Ma'am. You've got to come down. Her parents are waiting for her." The talker, dressed in full flak jacket and gear, tried to sound calm. He looked about 22. Just a baby himself. What was Lasher thinking. "She's mine! Why can't you understand that?!! You won't take her from me. Not again. I'll kill myself first. She's mine. She's mine" She kept repeating herself, shaking her head wildly. The little girl looked around wide-eyed, not understanding any of this, but clearly scared.

Karen knew that neither the woman nor the child would hold up much longer. And that poor kid of a talker was out of his depth. "Lasher, yank that kid out of there. I'm going in."

Lasher, Blake, and Strenlich just stared at her. Even Jody Powell and Skalany, who had left Kelly working crowd control, looked shocked. Kermit was the only one who didn't seem surprised. Karen ignored them all. Now was not the time for a lesson of "wow, there is a reason she's the captain". Like she hadn't been a cop for twenty years. Since she was younger than that talker.

"Jody, her parents have to be around somewhere. I need to talk to them. Pronto." She started to take off her black jacket and waited for the inevitable explosion from Lasher. She didn't have to wait long.

"What the hell do you think your doing? This is my ", Karen cut him off.

"Lasher", she motioned Blake over to start running the wire. "what's the first rule for a talker? Know the subject. How they think. How they feel."

"And?", he said confused and angry like a bull. He'd hoped that with Caine gone, the 101st's showboating and interfering would be over. No such luck.

"What do think that kid up there knows about a grieving woman? About a mother and child. He probably still lives at home himself. Now, if you had any women on your team," She knew he didn't; Lasher wasn't the type to work with women. "I might let them handle it; but since you don't, get the hell out of my way."

Lasher looked stunned for a minute. He was thinking up a retort when Strenlich butted in.

"Uh, Captain. Are you sure you should do this?" Karen looked at him. He fell silent.

She raised her arms so that Blake could attach the wires and took the earpiece from his hand and put it in her ear. Then she tested the mic Blake attached to her lapel and put back on her jacket. She ignored Strenlich and continued talking to Lasher. "And as for the child. You have a six foot tall man dressed in a flak jacket and you expect a six year old to come to him willingly? Barney'd have a better chance. Where's the girl's parents?" She looked around for Jody.

"Here, Captain.", Jody said softly, "Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, Captain Karen Simms"

Karen tone of voice changed immediately. "Hi. I'm sorry about this. We are doing all we can but we need your help. Do you have Brianna's inhaler? We need to know the extent of the asthma."

Brianna's mother spoke first, "She has type 2. I give her the medication every six hours." Her voice wavered. Karen's heart went out to her. "Can you help her? She been without her meds for three hours already. She needs me." She started to cry and her husband put both of his hands on her shoulders for comfort. He spoke up. "We have an extra inhaler in the car. I'll get it"

She stopped him from moving with a hand, "Wait. Does your little girl have a favorite toy? Something she can't do without. Something she'd recognize instantly?"

The man's face wrinkled in thought for a second then brightened. "Yes, her toy Snuffy. You know, from Sesame Street. Is that important?"

"Please bring her toy and the inhaler here. Thank you. Jody, help Mr. Thompson." Karen turned back to the still weeping woman; touched her arm. "Mrs. Thompson? I need you to look at this screen while I'm up there with Brianna. Tell my men if she starts to look like she's going to have attack or if she looks unusual in any way. They'll relay that to me. I can't tell you not to worry, but I can tell you that we are doing all we can. We will bring Brianna back safely. You have my word." She took the inhaler and stuffed snufaluphagus from the returning father and handed his wife back over to him.

Lasher, in the meantime, having decided "What the Hell", had given the extraction order to his young talker. Karen started to walk up the stairs and met the young talker on the bottom of the stairs. He looked like Todd. She smiled reassuringly. "You did well. Now let an 'old lady' handle it." He smiled back, wanly as he moved out of her way. Kermit, who had been silently watching the whole exchange, reached out to touch her arm. They exchanged looks, not unlike the time he had taken leave to go to the mouth of a hurricane. Then she climbed the stairs, disappearing into the darkness between floors.

Now that she was up here, Karen was scared as hell. The woman, Julia, was slumped near the edge of the balcony, head down; Brianna sleepily sitting beside her. Brianna heard Karen come up the stairs first. Said "Hi!" The child's words made Julia lift her head; she raised the gun at Karen, snapped, "Who are you?"

"I'm Karen.", she said simply. She looked at Julia's empty eyes and knew in her heart why she had been so adamant to talk her down. She remembered that look in her own eyes. Remembered the way she had felt. Bile rose unbidden to her throat. She swallowed and pushed the nightmarish thoughts into the back of her mind. She couldn't think of that now. Not now. There were two women who needed her help. Brianna's mother and Julia. Both hurt and scared. She had to find a way to help them both.

Karen raised up her right hand with the inhaler in it and held it out. "I'm not here to take the child away. I just want to make sure she's safe. The doctor says that she has asthma. That she needs this medicine in order to breathe. Please. Let me give her the medicine."

Julia looked at her warily; didn't know if she could trust her. "No. You'll take her away. I haven't seen her have trouble breathing. You're lying to me."

Karen wasn't sure how she was going to convince her. She didn't want to wait until the child had symptoms. She didn't know anything about asthma. The child might already be on the verge of an attack. Children that young weren't usually that quiet.

She was thinking frantically about what to say next, when Brianna looked up, saw the inhaler, and clapped happily. "Med.", she said with a slight lisp as she reached for the inhaler. Julia held her back

Karen almost slumped down and cried herself, in relief. "That's right. Medicine. Julia, please. How about if I slide you the inhaler? You could give it to her. No one wants to hurt you. I promise."

"OK. But no tricks." She shook her gun for emphasis.

"No tricks." Karen slid the inhaler part of the way to the woman, making sure it landed far on the opposite of the child, and held her breath. Julia darted after the medicine, loosening her hold on the small child.

While the woman was busy, Karen whipped out her secret weapon. Snuffy.

To a six year old, their favorite toy is all. A real friend. Someone to hold and cuddle when Mommy reads bedtime stories. Brianna was no different. At the first sight of her best friend, she wriggled out of Julia's loose grip and ran to Karen, who swooped her up. Gave her to the nearest policeman with a relieved sigh. Kissed the little head lightly as she was carried away. Then, she heard the cry of anguish. Her smile snapped. She turned slowly.

Julia raised the gun, aimed it right at Karen. "You did trick me!" She cried in anger. "I knew I couldn't trust you! I can't live without her! I can't. I can't!" Her voice rose with each word. She turned the gun on herself. Karen took a step forward.

"No! Stop!" Karen took another step towards her. "Jennifer wouldn't want you to do this. Please. Please. Put the gun down."

"What would you know about my daughter? What do you know about my pain?" Julia asked, stepping closer to the edge.

"I know that you loved your daughter very much. I know that when you lost her, you felt that your whole world had fallen away and left you with nothing." Karen started to inch forward, again. "It's funny. You dream your whole life of having a child. A boy, as much as you love him, well; he's for his father, isn't he? Someone to carry on the family name." She thought fleetingly of Peter and Caine.

"But a girl. Ah, she's all yours. You are going to buy her first dress. Braid her first braids. Teach her how to swim and ride a bike. Wave from the window as she goes on her first date. Teach her how to dance. How to flirt with a boy. Stand for her at her wedding. You're going to make sure that she never makes the mistakes you made. Then, without warning, it's all taken away."

Julia stared at Karen, not sure what to make of her words. She started to weep, still holding the gun to her head, but not as stiff. Karen continued walking forward, as if in a trance. She didn't want to continue, but she knew he had an opening. She had to push through. No matter the pain.

"When my dau-," Tears started trailing down her own checks silently, leaving their marks. Karen started again. "Ten years ago, my daughter died, in her sleep. I died too. I had no love left. Not for my husband. Not for my son. Only anger. It was a long time, before I could speak her name. Katherine. After awhile, I couldn't even see her face. I saw other girls her age and looked for what I'd lost." Karen stopped. Smiled, sadly. "You see, I do understand."

She was almost in Julia's space, now. "But, I couldn't find her. It wasn't until I let go, that I could see her again. Remember her the way she was. The way she smiled when I held her. Her laugh." Karen stopped in front of her. "If you kill yourself, who will remember Jennifer? Who will remember her smile? Her laugh? Who else, but you?" She reached out her hand for the gun, "Please, give me the gun. You owe her that much."

Julia handed her the gun and sank to the floor, weeping loudly. Wailing out her grief and her pain and her anger to a cruel world. Karen tossed the gun far away from them and kneeled down by Julia, then took her in her arms, rocking her gently. "It's alright. Let it go. Let it all go." They stayed like that for what seemed like forever. Tears flowed like rivers. Cleansing them both.

Julia looked up; her eyes, large still pools of emptiness, "I wanted to stop the pain. I just wanted to stop the pain. Will it ever stop?"

"No. Not completely. You learn to live with the pain. You tuck it into a pocket in your heart. And there it stays. It becomes like a second conscience. Telling you to live. Because, that's what she would have wanted. You want her to be proud. So, you live and love. Work and play. Other babies are born." Karen thought about the foundling child she rescued on Christmas Eve. The child she loved as her own. She smiled. "You go on. Not as before. But in a different way." Karen took Julia's hands in her own. "When that happens, then, you'll remember her. Without the guilt. Without the anger. That's what Jennifer would want for you. I know it. Someday, you'll know it too. I promise."

Part 1   Part 2 

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