Manifest Jared and Michaela

Partners

"How was the honeymoon?" Jared asked Michaela at her desk when she returned to work.

"It was nice." He could tell she was uncomfortable talking about it with him.

"Good," he said before changing the subject. "Did you hear Drea's out sick? She's got mono, it sounds like she'll be gone for a while. Captain Bowsers told me you and I were going to be partners again until she's back."

"Oh, I was wondering where she was," Michaela responded.

"I'm about to head out, there was a fire at a bar, suspected arson. Do you want to come along?"

"Yeah, I'll go," Michaela answered, a little hesitantly.

"Alright."

Michaela stood up and he followed her out to his car. They were silent on the way out and continued their silence in the first few minutes of the drive.

"You know, I'm sorry, I didn't think about that the whole fire thing could be stressful for you since you and your family were involved in the last case. If you want to wait in the car..." Jared started.

"No, it's my job. I'll be fine."

"Okay. If you change your mind, I'll understand." He turned to face her for a second, a compassionate expression on his face. Michaela turned away and stared out the window.

***

"The building is unstable, be careful detectives," a firefighter told them before they went in.

"Thank you," Jared responded with a nod.

Michaela had her arms crossed tight over her chest, uncomfortable, the memory of the burning club full of 828 passengers still fresh in her head. She hadn't gotten over the trauma of that experience. Jared watched her for a minute when they got inside.

"Are you okay? Is this harder than you thought?" Jared asked, concern in his voice.

"Can you stop?" She turned to look at him, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Stop what?"

"Worrying about me. If I couldn't handle it I wouldn't have came. I'm clearly fine. That feels like it was ages ago, it's in the past. It's not like a burning building is going to remind me of being stuck in there and almost losing all those passengers and my family and... and..." Michaela's voice caught, tears streamed down her face and she sniffled.

"Mick..." Jared put his hand on her back. "Why don't you go..."

"No. I am fine. Sorry about that, I don't know what that was about." She pulled herself together and walked ahead, although she wasn't thinking about the case. Jared wasn't thinking about the case, either. Only her. He followed her and silently watched for a few minutes, unsure of how to help her.

"You can talk to me, if you want. About how being in the burnt building is upsetting you, I mean. I know you're lying about being okay."

"It's just that..." she casually kicked a pile of rubble against the wall, and the pieces of the ceiling started falling.

"Mick!" Jared pulled her out of the way, his arm around her, holding her back against him.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "I think I am just going to wait in the car. I'm doing more harm than good. I'm sorry." She tried to pull away from him but he held on to her.

"Okay. I'm sorry I brought you here. Call me if you need anything, okay?" He spoke softly to her.

"Yeah," her voice still barely above a whisper. He let her go and she went outside.

***

"It doesn't appear to be arson," Jared said as he got back in the car. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I'm sorry about how I acted in there," Michaela avoided eye contact, staring out the windshield.

"Mick, that was a traumatic experience, it's fine if you're still recovering from that."

"But I'm a cop. That shouldn't get in the way of doing my job," she turned to face him. Her voice was filled with anger toward herself.

"I know, you've had tons of traumatic experiences on the job, but your family was involved, so it's different. And that's okay. Don't be too hard on yourself." His voice was gentle. He wanted to comfort her, but he knew there wasn't much he could do without causing her more discomfort. He wished he could still hug her or kiss her or hold her hand. There was nothing more he could do other than try to reassure her.