Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke Cameron

[ after this ]

Luke calls Janet as soon as he gets out of court and sees her text that Adam Lydon's baby has arrived. "You guys still at the hospital?" he asks, walking to his car. "No, we're giving them a break," she replies. "Dana's resting and Michael's making sure that her parents have a hotel when they get into town." Luke chuckles because that's such a Michael Davis thing to do. He's incredibly conscientious, which is one of the many reasons why he's held in such high regard.

"I'll come by and see the baby tomorrow when things have settled down," he says. Which is a typical Luke Cameron thing to do. Stay out of the way until the initial chaos has passed even if your ex-girlfriend is hoping that you're going to be there. "You want to get a drink tonight?" he suggests while tossing his briefcase on the passenger seat of his BMW, suddenly reminded of that. He's in his forties now and his emotional intelligence hasn't improved all that much, though not for lack of trying.

Offering to spend some time with her on a day that might also be emotional for her is trying. Even if it takes Janet a moment to realize why he's asking, because she's totally focused on being happy for Adam and not thinking about herself. Or them. "Sure, if you're not busy," she says. "I'll make time for you," he reassures her, pulling out of the garage. All he has to do is make his way back to the U.S. Attorney's Office to tie up loose ends and get his things. "So how's the kid?"

"Healthy and adorable. Adam already thinks Alex looks like him," Janet replies. "I'm just glad to see him so happy." She's seen enough broken families. Luke and Tayshia are the two people she knows who have healthy relationships with their parents. They deserve to do better than they were raised. "Yeah, me too," Luke agrees, hearing the wistful tone in Janet's voice. "I'll text you an address when I get back."

That address turns out to be for All Souls Bar in the Shaw neighborhood. It's quiet and it's out of both their way but Luke was looking for that in case they decide to have another one of those hard conversations they don't want overheard by anyone who actually knows them. He calls ahead and reserves an outdoor table in the far corner, standing when Janet crosses the courtyard. "You look good," he tells her as they briefly hug. "Please," she chuckles. "I was at the hospital and then running errands. What were you doing working on a Sunday?"

"How did you know I was working?"

"You're wearing a suit and tie," she points out. "Or are you just doing that all the time now?"

He chuckles, knowing he's been caught out. "I had to go down to try and find some old paperwork," he replies. "I wanted to look the part." So no one gave him any unnecessary grief and just in case any other lawyers ran across him. Janet knows how Luke always has to project a sharp image. "But this isn't about me," he adds before she can ask him for case details, glad that the waiter shows up to take their drink orders. "How are you feeling right now?"

( cut for trigger warning )

[ the day after this ]

no directory assistance;
"What the fuck is going on here?"

Luke Cameron can't think of anything else to say when he walks into the financial crimes unit to find the room pitch black and Michael Davis standing under a hole in the ceiling. Michael, in the middle of getting undressed, realizes he's forgotten that he scheduled a meeting with Luke for case review. "The power's out on this floor," he explains, while handing Janet Ford his tie. "I'm going to see where all the wires lead."

"Exactly like you guys to not wait for somebody else to fix it," Luke comments.

Standing there holding Michael's jacket and tie, Janet chimes in, "I still say I could do it."

"No." The reaction comes from both Michael and Luke in unison, both of them recalling Janet's brush with the warehouse fire in New Jersey and the fact she fell out of a ceiling there a few years later. They say it so fast they share an amused look at how they're on the same wavelength for once. But everyone knows Janet and heights are a bad combination.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Luke says, putting his bag down because he can tell he's going to be here for a while. "You're going to climb up in there and put everything back together?"

"I don't know. I'm a psychologist, not an electrician." Michael reminds him. But he does remember that before this was ever his office, it was equipment storage space for the FBI, and so there's a fuse box in the back of the room. He doesn't want to push any buttons there without knowing what might happen when he does. And he's not going to ask any of his colleagues to climb up into the ceiling, so here he goes. Luke instinctively moves over beside Janet to spot him as Michael steps up onto one of the desks in order to pull himself up through the ceiling panel and disappears from view.

Luke has every intention of asking why they didn't just leave it alone when Michael comes down. He appreciates that the financial crimes team is proactive, but this is way out of their job description, and the fact that they're even trying tells him that they either have something massive going on that they can't afford to wait on—which is unlikely since Michael hadn't sounded urgent when he called yesterday—or there's some other reason they can't sit still. And he's here, so he's going to help his friends, though his abrasive personality means he's going to tease them about it.

"If you find a million dollars up there, I'm quitting my job," he calls.

"If I find anything up here, Brennan has some explaining to do," Michael retorts. Luke glances over at Janet. "It'd be just like him to hide something up there, though," he concedes and she agrees. Despite working in a whole other organization, Luke has been around long enough to be well versed in Anthony Brennan's unique way of thinking. He leans up against the desk and folds his arms, waiting to see what happens.

Michael takes a few minutes to look around above their heads before he comes down, and it is also exactly like him to be laying in the ceiling yet not get a single smudge on his still pristine white shirt. "I don't see anything out of order," he says once Janet and Luke help him down, taking his clothes back from his partner. "Not that I have more than a reasonable guess what I'm looking at."

"Should we go hit the breaker?" Adam Lydon asks, and Michael shakes his head. "I'll do it. That way if something goes wrong, it's officially my fault." Before Luke can question that phrasing, he adds, "Can you guys replace that ceiling tile? Brennan will notice if it's not perfectly back in place."

Luke pushes up off the desk to allow Adam and Tayshia Grant room to work, and in one fluid motion takes Janet by the shoulder and steers her aside. "What's going on with him?" he asks as Michael walks away. "I know you guys don't just decide to DIY your own office on a Tuesday night."

"We're working through something," she says with a soft sigh. "I'll let him tell you about it."

That only makes Luke's brow furrow in concern. "I'm here if you need me," he replies, putting a hand on her back and rubbing gently. One more step he's taking to be a good friend and not just a great ally. When Michael returns from the hallway—obviously not having managed to turn the power back on—Luke and Janet follow him into Brennan's office. They can have a conversation by flashlight and what's left of the daylight coming through the bullpen's double doors.

"I didn't learn enough electrical engineering," Michael deadpans. He didn't really expect to solve the problem, but he wanted to try. Luke, as usual, decides to immediately push the real issue. "Janet says you're having a rough day," he says and watches the other man nod slowly. "This hasn't been one of my favorite ones, no. You really want to hear about this?"

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know."

"Tony fucked off and left the two of us in charge. He's testing us to see how we're coming along before his retirement."

"Doesn't he have a couple more years?" Luke replies incredulously. "Three years," Michael clarifies. "He's made clear to me that he sees the handover as a long-term process. But I didn't see him doing something this abrupt, this early and so we've decided to just play along with it."

"But that doesn't mean you know what to do about it." Luke nods, definitely understanding that feeling. He's known for at least four or five years that Bryan Alexander wants him to be the next U.S. Attorney, and unlike these two has said more than once that he doesn't want the promotion. It wasn't until he had his fight with Bryan after the Melissa Wallace case that it seemed to sink in with his boss, and Luke isn't sure that Bryan isn't still hoping he changes his mind. He privately worries that he'll have to say no emphatically and that when he does, it may destroy their relationship. "I'd just keep doing the best you can," he suggests. "Whatever he expects from you, he's going to tell you. And whatever I can do to help, let me know, even if you just want to complain."

"Thanks, Luke." Michael offers up a small smile. "Let me show you what we've got," he continues, not having forgotten why he called the prosecutor over in the first place. That gives Janet a chance to make her exit. "I'll go help clear everything up," she tells her partner, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder to quietly appreciate his offer of support. No matter how difficult Luke has been or things have been between them, he's always been loyal to the whole financial crimes team. And she knows first-hand that he's not that involved with the DEA and other agencies he works with.

He's loyal because they showed themselves to be the kind of people he wanted to align himself with. And they, in turn, recognize that he's given them more than he does anyone else. Such as, an hour later when the files have been slowly gone over with the flashlight on his iPhone, telling Michael that he's buying him a drink for having to spend part of his day in the ceiling.

[ after this ]

don't lose any sleep now;
Game night at Luke Cameron's apartment is an occasion. Luke has loved board games since he was a kid, and his competitive streak is particularly entertaining when applied to something meaningless like Monopoly or Mafia. It's been a few weeks since he's been able to schedule one, so he finally gets everyone together for a round of Life. Michael helps him set the board up on his dinner table while everyone is already cracking the expected jokes about how the game doesn't make any logical sense. "Hey, it's as close as Kevin will get to getting married," Luke quips.

"Jesus, what did I do to you today?" Kevin Russell comments wryly as he pulls up a chair. Next to him, Pat Ryden can't stop himself from chuckling. Luke settles between Kevin and Janet after making sure that the soda, beer and pretzels are within arm's reach. He's not getting up until the game ends—and he probably shouldn't since these tend to evolve into playful arguments about one thing or another. Right now it's Kevin's social life and in thirty minutes they'll discuss how the salaries on the career cards are ridiculous. Luke really doesn't care what they talk about; he enjoys the company and the chance to completely relax.

As much as he wants to win.

The evenings also give him a chance to see his friends outside of work, which is something that still doesn't happen enough. While they're finishing the cleanup, Luke excuses himself to catch up with Janet, who's finishing her soda out on his balcony. "So, a boat, huh?" he jokes. "We really can't take you anywhere." He's trying to keep things light, but what he really wants to do is check in with her. It's something that he's been doing more often—initially because he finally understood what asking meant to her, but it's come to be important to him too, a way to actively invest in their friendship instead of just assuming everything was fine like he had when they were dating.

"Yeah, it was a stupid decision." Janet rubs at her forehead. "I just saw a friend of mine going to risk his life and didn't want him out there alone." She bites her lip as she thinks back. "But I didn't actually do anything to help. Just sat there while he did all the work and opened up to the suspect."

"Doesn't sound like it. Sounds like you gave him the way out of the situation. And if you hadn't been there, Holden wouldn't have been either." Luke replies bluntly, able to be far more detached than Janet is or has ever been. "And you shouldn't think that wanting to help someone is ever stupid."

"It goes deeper than that." She sighs, and it takes a look from him to get her to come out with it. "The suspect did what he did because he was trying to protect his partner's wife. To show him we could be trusted, Brad told him that he's still in love with me."

Luke's eyes widen at that critical piece of information he feels like he should have known before. It makes perfect sense, given what he learned about Brad Lancaster ages ago when Janet confided in him about whether or not to stay in Miami on the Petrov case. "Have you told Holden about this?" he asks, and Janet makes a protesting noise that he takes as a no. "What good would it do?" she replies. "I didn't even want to tell you, considering I know how you feel about me."

"You've got to tell him." Luke shakes his head. "One of the first things you two decided on was not holding things back. And Brad's going to be a part of your life; it's going to come up somehow. How's Holden going to feel if he finds out from someone other than you?"

That sentence makes Janet pause. She'd thought that it would be irrelevant, since she and Brad had addressed the issue and moved on from it themselves. But Holden was perceptive and if he noticed something or thought he did, finding out that she'd been sitting on Brad's feelings for years already might be worse than the feelings themselves. While Brad would never make a play toward Janet the way Luke had when he set off Holden's jealousy, that immediately made her think about Debbie and cringe. "How do I have that conversation?" she asks. "I don't want to violate Brad's privacy. He didn't even intend on letting me know. And I don't want things to be awkward between them, because you're right, we're going to see each other."

"I wish I could tell you there was an easy way." Luke chuckles. "But I think you talk to Brad and give him the heads-up, and then you tell Holden. And if he loves you as much as he seems to, he'll understand that he's the one you came home with."

Janet eyes her ex-boyfriend for a long moment. She remains privately terrified of having another fight with Holden like the one they had over Luke. And Luke would be the first person to say he shouldn't be talking on this subject. Being able to recognize and improve upon his flaws doesn't mean he's actually fixed any of them if he even wants to. But she remembers Holden's reaction when she didn't tell him that she was meeting her father years earlier. His biggest disappointment has come from not knowing. And it's not as if she's ever once been tempted to cheat on him. If she was going to go back to someone, it would've been Luke when he finally dropped his guard and dropped the words she'd waited forever to hear.

"We're missing the point here," Janet comments because she's not sure she'll have the courage to follow his suggestion. "Since when did Luke Cameron give romantic advice?" That makes him laugh out loud. "It's too bad I can't go back and listen to myself," he replies—not said with any sadness, just an observation. The ways to fix their relationship seem so easy now that he's had years to look at the mistakes. "But I want things to work out for you. And I'm pretty uniquely qualified to help you out."

Janet smiles at that. "The same is true the other way, too," she feels compelled to say. "If you ever decide to move on." It's the quiet fact they've never talked about. Luke has had his chances after her, but for reasons mostly known to himself, part of that growth process was leaving behind his playboy reputation and choosing to hold his cards close to his vest. That's why he just chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind," he says, "but I have enough to deal with in my own life. You're not the only one who's been on an uphill battle."

"We could help you with that."

"I know. And you have, sometimes. But there's some things I have to do on my own. All the shit I put off for twenty years." He claps her on the back as if to end that line of conversation. This moment isn't about him and this night isn't supposed to be that deep. "Come on. We've been brooding enough," he tells her and steers her back inside before Pat can finish the cake.

sweet talk will work till he finds out;
Luke Cameron does not shy from conflict. But there's one person's voice he'd be perfectly happy never hearing again, to the point where when he does hear her behind him, every muscle in his back immediately locks itself. He makes sure to get rid of the pained expression on his face before he turns around to see her in his office doorway. "Hey, Sandra," he says, not adding Who the hell let you back in the building?

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Rosenhurst was the former Bureau Chief for sex crimes, until she transferred to Philadelphia. She had left for better advancement prospects about six years ago—but the rumor mill liked to blame it on Luke, since they'd been having a fling that he'd broken off four months earlier. Everyone in the office who ought to know the truth did and those who didn't weren't stupid enough to bring it up with him. But that didn't mean Luke wanted to see her again. Sandra was a bad decision, one even more annoying now because he finally had a clear understanding of why he'd made it.

"I had to swing through for a wedding, thought I'd see how everyone was doing," she says. Sandra is quite obviously sizing him up, like any good lawyer would do. She wants to get a read on what the last six years have done to him without asking. "I'm not surprised that you're still here."

"Where did you think I would go?" he replies sarcastically, fixing his tie and leaning over his desk to close the files he'd been working on. This is not going to be a short conversation. "Even if I wanted to be anywhere else, Bryan's made it obvious that he doesn't want me to leave." Which was the actual reason Sandra had bailed out of D.C. There was nowhere for her to climb, not with the succession plan being Luke and then Kevin Russell. She'd been the one person whose ambition could match his and she didn't want to be third place to anyone.

"How's Philadelphia?" he asks because he knows he should at least ask. "I heard you were doing some pretty big things over there." She nods. "We have the fifth highest sex crimes clearance rate in the country," she tells him. "We've gotten some high-profile convictions, although we got overshadowed by that human trafficking ring in Miami."

"Yeah, I heard about that," Luke says noncommittally. His role in the Wexler case has remained under wraps due to Wexler's plea deal and he plans on keeping it that way. "I'm glad you've found somewhere that's exactly what you wanted." But he falls quiet after that because he doesn't know what else to bring up with someone he hasn't even spoken to in a half-decade.

"Things didn't work out with Steve," Sandra comments, finally filling in the silence. "We divorced about three years ago."

Luke arches an eyebrow. "I don't know what you want me to say to that," he comments as he knows what the next sentence is going to be. "I was going to apologize for not telling you before," she explains, "and ask if you wanted to get dinner."

"I appreciate the apology," he says, choosing not to call her on it being several years too late. "But I'm not interested. We were colleagues, we weren't even really close friends, and what happened between us shouldn't have happened." Which is not the best thing he could have said based on her reaction—but Luke has always been known for speaking the truth instead of what he ought to.

"Did you get back with her?" Sandra asks him tightly.

"Her name is Janet," Luke replies in a firm tone. If she's going to bring his ex into this she can give her that respect, but he certainly isn't going to explain their fifth break up to someone who doesn't need to know about it. "And that's not relevant to this conversation. You told me you were divorced when you were only separated, and I was being a self-centered asshole, and we vented to each other. We were using each other and that's why I ended it. You deserved better and I needed to face the truth."

The truth being that he needed to work things out with Janet—not even romantically, but just for his own well-being. Their fourth split had been ugly, motivated as it usually was by the job, and he didn't want to leave their relationship in that state no matter what it was. It wasn't good for either of them and it wasn't good for their work. His inability to feel anything for Sandra had only highlighted that something wasn't right with him. Luke had dumped her after four weeks and was trying to figure out how to at least calm things down with Janet when the First National shooting had happened and nothing else after that mattered.

Sandra is taken aback not only by his tone but that admission. "Maybe I should be thanking you for apologizing," she says with only slight sarcasm. "I've never heard you be so self-critical."

"No, you haven't." Another reason Luke didn't really consider those few weeks as an actual relationship. "I've changed a lot over the last six years. And it sounds like so have you."

There isn't much more to say after that so they make their polite goodbyes and Sandra sees herself out. After she's gone—and he means off the entire floor and with enough time for her to get on the elevator—Luke emerges and walks straight over to Kevin's office. "Did you know Sandra was in the building?" he asks. "And she just hit on me." Kevin arches an eyebrow. "If I'd known, I would've warned you," he comments, because he also would've preferred to avoid confrontation. "And I hope you had the good sense to say no."

"What the hell do you think?" Luke shoots back sarcastically. "My bigger concern is do I tell Janet?"

"Tell your ex-girlfriend that the woman you hooked up with after your fourth break-up is back in town?" Kevin asks rhetorically. "How much do you like your testicles?" Luke lets out a tight breath. It's not an unfair question given that Janet loathes Sandra. "But if she finds out from someone other than me, how's she gonna feel?" he points out. He's really worked to be more considerate of Janet than he had been and if there's even the slightest chance this gets back to her, he imagines not hearing it from him will hurt more than the actual news.

Even if it's an irrelevant and painful conversation. Sandra is the one name Janet can put to all of his indiscretions. She's the one other woman Janet knows about and the one he was sleeping with when Janet was unknowingly pregnant with his child. Even if it didn't last long and even though it will never happen again, she's the one who did the most damage. Yet despite not wanting to stab that wound, Luke knows not saying things is what got him and Janet into trouble in the first place. He'd rather she be a little pissed than see this as another example of him fucking her off.

"If you're gonna do it, and I'm not suggesting you do," Kevin tells him, "I'd do it to her face."

"Yeah, that's going to be a fun meeting to set up." Luke rubs the back of his neck as he imagines Janet asking why he's calling on a Tuesday morning. "But I've got to bite the bullet."

"It's not your fault she walked back in here years later," his best friend reminds him. As much as Luke doesn't want to drag this back up it also isn't something he'd have seen coming. "And look at it this way. The guy you were six years ago wouldn't even have recognized it until the bullet hit you in the face."

Luke knows Kevin is trying to encourage him as he's done so many times over their fourteen-year friendship. Even if it's by reminding him of the mistakes he would have made before. "I'm going to step out for a couple of minutes," he says, pulling his phone out of his back pocket, because he doesn't want to make this call in the office. Going out onto the balcony also keeps him from beating his head into the wall.

Washington, D.C.
January 5

They shouldn't be having this conversation. Janet knows that she should tell Luke it's her father and her problem, so he has no right to be more angry than she is, let alone demanding answers from her. But he's always had a ferocious temper and the truth is Jack really isn't just her problem. He's been Luke's problem and Michael's problem and Holden's problem because they and other people have had to deal with the effects he's had on her life. So she takes his outburst in stride and is willing to talk about it. Maybe to see if he can talk her out of it.

"It seems like the responsible thing to do," she tells him, sinking into the chair next to his desk. "If his life might be at risk—and the key to this case is knowing the ins and outs of the old one before our suspect figures them out. Who's going to know better than the criminal himself?"

"We can notify the U.S. Marshals without you having to talk to him." Luke loosens his tie and shrugs out of his jacket again, sure that it's going to take more than a few minutes for him to get this so he may as well make himself comfortable. "As for the rest of it, are you sure you can't get this information any other way?"

"We are tearing those old files apart piece by piece." Janet exhales. "But it's ten boxes of material from almost twenty years ago. I've got to narrow it down faster than that. One of our victims stupidly suggested there's still money hidden away from the previous disposition, and I need to know whose names he would have given up. I can't just dispatch agents in six different states."

"What the fuck did he do that for?"

"I don't know, but figuring out why should tell me the who, which can help me catch this guy before he kills anybody else. He's already got access to firepower because his day job is running guns from New Jersey to New York." She leans forward in the chair, not so much talking to him now as thinking out loud. "Our victim had an old grudge, and there's nobody everyone hated more than my father."

Luke doesn't have to ask why. Jack Ford turning state's evidence had automatically put a target on his back. If Jack hadn't re-dedicated his life to working as a case consultant for law enforcement, he would have had few other options. But his concern is the same one Janet voiced earlier. Jack closes his cases by his own way and often with collateral damage. "You're banking on him being a problem," he points out. "There has to be another way, Janet. It's not worth the risk. He almost got you killed."

The last part is said in that emphatic tone and staring right at her because he's warned her about that before. That's why he insisted on the restraining order. The last time it was four bullets in her body and another that almost hit her in the head save Holden's quick trigger finger. Janet may risk her life on occasion but that's her choice. Her life being put at risk because of her father's reckless behavior is not. Yet he knows the response she's going to come back with: "What if someone else gets killed?"

"Your life is not less important than anyone else's." He shakes his head. "Unless you definitively need him, you could traumatize yourself for nothing." There's just a moment's hesitation before he adds, "Don't let this turn into Mercy Plaza all over again."

Janet wishes he hadn't brought that up but she doesn't snap at him because she knows she can't say that won't happen. Her public breakdown was still a source of embarrassment, and the only reason she hadn't gotten in trouble for it was that Adam had covered for her. She doesn't know that if her father does something else reckless, she won't tear into him another time. And Luke is right to point out that even if there aren't physical consequences, there may be mental ones. Her mental health is something she's prioritized over the past few years so that's no small concern either.

"What do you want me to do?" she asks simply. "If you don't want me to play this card, tell me what the better answer is. Because I don't know and I've got a double homicide and a gun trafficking investigation both hanging in the balance. I can't let these people down."

"It's not letting people down to avoid a worse outcome, and this could be a hell of a worse outcome," Luke shoots back. "What do you think he's going to do? Other than narrow down your suspect pool? He'll probably use himself as bait to drag this guy out." And he's already imagining Janet standing too close when that happens.

"Maybe. But at least that would be a controlled environment, on our terms, rather than extending resources we don't have or waiting for this guy to make a move. We already waited a few days to try and get ahead of him but we just don't have enough evidence to make a real play. The one reason we got this far is Leonpacher gambled on a search warrant and found our witness hiding in a closet." Janet smiles just a little at Luke's perplexed expression before asking the question she has to. "What would it mean for my restraining order?"

"You're the one violating it, so I doubt he can be charged. It's not going to invalidate it. And considering he didn't show up in court to contest it," Luke adds, looking off for a moment, "I don't think he'd want it to."

"That's all I care about." Janet exhales. "You know I wouldn't do this if I didn't absolutely have to. But this concerns him, and he's my best weapon. If we get this conviction, we can put the Stephenson Clark case and my father aside for good."

"Or we fuck it up and you and your father's past history gets dragged out into the open just like we barely avoided with Whitehouse."

"It's a New Jersey and New York case. Talk to their offices. At most, they can call Michael as a witness." She sees something change in his eyes at the mention of her partner's name and that's when Janet clicks another level to what's going on. It's not just the fact that Luke would keep her father away from her with a whip and a chair. She'd forgotten that Luke just spent time last year helping Michael deal with his own past case and how much stress that put them both under. He doesn't want to see her experience that too. That realization makes her reach out and take his hand in hers. "I'm glad you care," she says softly. "And I can't say I'm going to be okay, but I can't avoid the right thing just because it's hard."

"We never do. That's what makes us who we are." Luke squeezes Janet's hand and finally relents. Everything in him is screaming against this but he agrees that if they could have done something and the situation gets worse, they'll never forgive themselves. "I'll talk to our people," he says. "Put a message out. But I'm like four people removed from this, so it might take a few days."

"No, it won't. As soon as he hears it's me asking, he'll answer." Janet is sure of that. Her father is a lot of things but he still loves her.

There's a long look that passes between her and Luke full of 13 years of history. They may no longer be romantically involved, but Luke has always cared for Janet and understands how hard this will be for her to face. Janet knows he cares and that he's probably more right than she wants to admit. She can face all kinds of challenges—but this is different because it's breaking down that dividing wall between her past and present that's served her so well. First she takes after her father by crossing a moral line (albeit one of her own making), now she's doing this. He doesn't want to just leave or let her leave knowing the ramifications of this decision. "Do you want to come out with me?" he offers awkwardly. "So you're not alone right now."

"That's really nice of you to offer." Janet says sincerely. "But Holden will be at home, and I probably should put together a strategy now that we know exactly what's going on here."

Luke nods and leans in to kiss her on the cheek; a reminder that he's there for her if she ever decides she does need him. But he still waits to make the call until she's left his office and the entire fourth floor, not wanting her to hear what he had hoped never to do.

Janet walks out of the U.S. Attorney's Office to find Michael waiting outside by her car. His expression tells her everything she needs to know. "You didn't tell me you were calling him," he states it as a fact. He was smart enough to deduce where she'd been going, from which the why was obvious, and ballsy enough to call her out on it.

"I wasn't sure what I was going to do until I got here. Or if it was even possible."

"Is it?"

"Luke's going to find out."

"And how badly did he blow up?" Michael replies knowingly. Luke having Janet on a pedestal was only matched by how much the other man loathed her father—a sentiment Michael completely understands, even if he's not quite as livid. But he's only met Jack Ford once briefly and Jack's actions didn't take something from him.

"There was an argument, but mostly it was disappointment." Janet shakes her head. It's not like she doesn't understand that, too. "It makes me wonder where this is going to stop," she admits, looking past Michael for a moment. "I went too far just like my dad and now I'm bringing my dad back into my life. What happens next?"

"Hey, stop that thought right there." Now Michael's tone is as sharp as Luke's was a half-hour ago. "You did what had to be done in Miami and this is only about a case. You are not turning into your father." He's not going to let her fear get the better of her. "I told you this is the time to be angry, not afraid. You're focused on how this all affects you when you should be looking at what effect you can have on it. What kind of statement do you want to make?"

the world you've let down;
When Luke returns to work two days after the press conference, the first thing he does is report to Bryan's office. He doesn't want the whole day to feel awkward with the two of them circling each other while everyone else knows it's awkward. And he knows the only way to bury the hatchet is to make sure he and his boss are on the same page, even if it means having it out again.

"I just wanted to let you know I'm back," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets. "And see if there's anything else you needed to say to me." Take whatever shots you need to take, because I'm still not apologizing.

"I thought we pretty well said it before." Bryan leans back in his chair. "You made a decision that we both have to live with. I just don't understand why you didn't trust me enough to tell me there was something going on."

"It wasn't about trusting you." Luke shakes his head. "I didn't tell anyone to protect my case and keep from creating a fucking nuclear situation. I do understand that I could've said I couldn't tell you, but would that have made you feel any better?"

"I don't know. Maybe." The U.S. Attorney can concede that. As much as he would have appreciated the courtesy he would have also wondered what was so important that Luke was firewalling him. "I've always had your back. Even when you were going through all that stuff with Janet," he continues. "But when it turned the other way and it might involve me, you left me out."

"I did what I had to do. But I'm sorry you got hurt," Luke adds, because he is.

He and Bryan have never been friends in the sense that they don't socialize together unless it's one of the many parties or functions Bryan has dragged Luke to. Even that he stopped doing once it turned Luke into a witness to a crime. They don't just go out for drinks and they don't talk often about their personal lives. But they do have a professional friendship and Luke knows he wouldn't want to work anywhere else. He doesn't feel guilt over the choice he made but he also doesn't want Bryan to think he didn't matter.

His boss regards him for a moment before he exhales. "If I were in your position, I wouldn't have done the same thing," he states calmly. There's no need to mince words. "But I understand why you're not me."

"Do you really?"

"Maybe that's the real problem here and this is just the symptom. I've been wanting you to follow my path and you've never been shy about telling me that's not you." Bryan nods toward the open chair to indicate that Luke should sit down. If they're going to have a conversation, it may as well be that one. The talk they've never had despite Luke being repeatedly clear about where the line was. "You asked me once why I like you, and do you remember what I said?"

"That you wanted somebody who was going to push this office."

"That's why I want you to be U.S. Attorney. I don't want someone who's going to play the political games, Luke. I do that because it's what I have to do to keep people like Mark and Melissa Wallace off our backs and because it's what's going to get me ahead." Bryan's ambitions were well-known by now. "But I get that you don't want to do that. If you really don't want the added responsibilities... then I'm okay with looking for another successor."

For some reason, that hits Luke harder than he expected it would. He's never wanted the top job and has said it repeatedly yet it still feels like a slap in the face to have it taken away from him. Like he's being punished for doing what he knows was the right thing. "It's not that I'm not responsible," he replies with a bit of a frustrated edge to his voice. "I don't want to be concerned with politics and optics and other bullshit. I want to try cases and put criminals in prison. That's what I'm best at." He was even fairly hands-off with his team, preferring to focus on prosecutions rather than being that interested in giving orders and having meetings. Luckily, no one around him seemed to mind.

"I know you are. You're the best lawyer we have."

"Then why are you talking to me like I'm not?" It's a full-blown snap that comes out of Luke then but he can't suppress his anger. Being the best means everything to him with how he defines himself through his work.

Bryan is taken aback by the tone and the perturbed look in Luke's eyes but doesn't react to it. It's not as if he's unaware of the pressures Luke puts on himself and how the younger man is usually around the office. "I'm not criticizing you," he says in return. "I have a tremendous respect for who you are. I'm trying not to make you someone you don't want to be."

The phrasing hits Luke because it's exactly how Janet had admonished him for handling Michael. He shouldn't turn into someone he doesn't want to be. And she was right, even though so was he, so the sentence makes him pause. He sighs, running a hand through his hair and eyeing the floor. "Let me think about it," he mutters.

"Take all the time you need."

"I need you to tell me we're okay," Luke replies, lifting his gaze to look his boss in the eye.

"We're okay," Bryan affirms because he knows they'll agree to disagree on this. It's not the first time Luke has battled someone in his own office and that's a good thing; it means that they have different points of view instead of a company line. That just leads to bruised egos now and again. He had also noticed Luke being absent from work the day before and understood that meant he was also genuinely hurt by the way things had unfolded. He didn't want that for either of them.

"Okay. Good." Luke nods and pushes himself to his feet. "I need to catch up with Pat and make sure he and Johanna are ready for trial." Because the longer he stays in this vulnerable state, the more uncomfortable he gets and the more likely he is to lash out again.

"I think Ritter has some stuff for you to look over, too." Bryan pauses. "You did good, Luke," he says, wanting that to be explicitly clear. "You helped deliver a major arrest and I know how difficult that was for you to pull off. Not just with your workload. I see that and I care about it."

"I know you do." Luke replies. "And I appreciate that. Other bosses might've not even let me try. But I had to try."

"You didn't just try. You succeeded." Bryan nods toward the door. "Go on, get back to work before we start wanting to break out the hard liquor." It's meant simply to make Luke laugh and give him a way out of the conversation. He watches his would-be successor walk out the door with something to think about. Luke Cameron is the best pure lawyer he's ever seen, but if Luke isn't going to take his seat someday, who's it going to be?

devil you know, part 15;
Pat Ryden is the first to congratulate Luke when he returns to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Unsurprisingly, the sight of Melissa Wallace being taken out of the Hoover Building in handcuffs has already created a media buzz, and a press conference is being scheduled as they speak. "Way to go," Ryden says, clapping Luke on the back. "Taking down a congressman's ex-wife, that's one hell of a win."

Luke gives him a smile that isn't as bright as it should be. He feels accomplished, but he also knows it's not over yet. "It'll be a win when Kevin gets a conviction," he points out. But it's his best friend's day off so he can't discuss it with him yet. Nor is Luke sure he's got the mental space for that yet. He walks through to his own office, sets his bag down on his desk and allows himself to take a deep breath. He did what he had to do. What he wanted to do. Wexler hadn't been his choice; this was. This was the first time he'd stepped out of his carefully defined boundaries on purpose and while he doesn't know if he'd do it again, he knows he did the right thing. That's what matters.

He's not surprised when he hears someone in his doorway. Bryan Alexander has watched Luke in and out of the office all week, not missing a deadline or a meeting while trying to close a murder case. luke kept his word and didn't put a foot wrong. "Congratulations," he says. "I thought you could pull it off."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

But that's not the only reason his boss is standing there. "You lied to me the other day," Bryan just comes out with it. "When I asked you if there was anything I needed to know. You didn't tell me about the book."

"I didn't have a choice," Luke retorts. "We couldn't let knowledge of that get out into the public. And for all I knew, people you know were in there."

"Are they?"

"I don't know. I didn't read the whole thing. It'll get handed off to the Political Corruption Task Force to see if any of Wallace's allegations are true." Luke sighs. "This is why I don't want your job," he adds. "I can't deal with this. I just want to close cases."

He's said numerous times that he doesn't have any interest in being U.S. Attorney. But this is the first time that he's so explicitly stated what's holding him back. Bryan files that fact about his prodigal son away for another conversation they're not ready to have. "I do my job so you can do yours," he reminds Luke before he pauses. "You've never held anything back in almost twelve years. That's one of the things I've always respected about you. Even when it could have gotten you fired, you said something. I didn't think you'd ever break my trust."

"I'm sorry," Luke says, because he is. "But I'd do it again."

It has nothing to do with Bryan or whether or not he trusts his boss. It was about protecting the integrity of his case and not starting a potentially unwarranted media firestorm. He made a decision based on the facts, not his emotions. But he understands that to Bryan it feels like Luke didn't trust him enough to at least tell him that he couldn't tell him. The two of them exchange a quiet look before Luke walks out of his office. He knows there's nothing else he can say, that his boss just has to get over it, and he has a press conference to be at.

That evening Michael faces the cameras all over again. This time it's Anthony Brennan giving the prepared remarks instead of Patrick Burton, and he's almost a decade older, but the song remains the same as Brennan gives the details of Melissa Wallace and Thomas Marshall's arrests. Michael stares out into the crowd of reporters and tries not to think about how much attention he's going to get. Back then the Wallace case had jumpstarted his career. Now as a senior agent he knows he'll get more points toward making Assistant Director, but he also cares less. He only wants to leave the whole saga behind him.

Michael glances over at Luke as the Assistant U.S. Attorney steps to the microphone. He's gained respect for Luke knowing the other man stepped up for him without having to be asked, even though it meant being out of his depth. And he can admit that having Luke there made this easier so he didn't have to hold everything in. Because he would have. "I want to start by thanking the FBI, Supervisory Special Agent Brennan and Senior Special Agent Davis for completing a detailed and conscientious investigation," Luke begins. "Despite a complicated case and the history of both the victim and the suspect, they maintained a commitment to justice."

The press conference lasts less than thirty minutes. Just like he did nine years earlier, Michael stops in the hallway on the way back to his office. Except this time it's to size Luke up. It seems wrong to leave it like this. "Thank you," he says. "I couldn't have done this without your help."

"You deserved it," Luke replies. "And frankly, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else." As strange as this whole expedition has been, he cares about Michael. And being aware of what Mark Wallace had done and how he never should've been let out of prison, his anger at the situation would have made him want to at least know what was going on. He had at least held his tongue and not criticized the parole board in his remarks. "How are you doing?" he asks now that it's been a few hours.

"I'm fine. I'll be okay. It's just both times I've dealt with them, they've turned me into someone I didn't want to be." Michael sighs.

"Don't second-guess your decisions." The U.S. Attorney shakes his head. He's not in the habit of doing that anyway but he knows what Michael is thinking. If he made a mistake showing Melissa Wallace compassion knowing now she wasn't as innocent as he believed. "If you hadn't done what you did nine years ago," Luke points out, "you wouldn't have been able to do this."

Michael has to concede the point. Melissa's fatal mistake had been thinking she could use him in her plan. Her coming forward had also immediately put her on their radar. Had she not had that blind spot, the case might still have come together, but it would have taken much longer. That idea makes it a little easier to forgive himself. "How are you?" he asks.

"Bryan's pissed off at me for not telling him about the book. He found out about it when I filed the arrest warrants. But I can live with that."

"Can you?"

"I knew what I was doing. The rest of us can't always be the good guy," Luke comments before he turns and walks away. Michael knows that's meant to be a compliment toward him but he can't help but take it as a reminder that Luke is often the bad guy. It's something he thinks on as he heads back to the third floor.

When Michael steps off the elevator, he hears a familiar voice call his name. He'd completely forgotten that Janet was coming home, but he remembers now that she wasn't supposed to be at work until tomorrow. It's clear that she came here for him. He doesn't argue with the sentiment, just catches her when she runs to him and holds her tightly. "I missed you so much," he murmurs into her neck.

"I missed you too," Janet says, kissing his cheek gently. "I'm glad you're okay. I knew you could do it, but I couldn't stop thinking—"

He knows what the rest of that sentence is. "Don't you dare apologize for not being here," he tells her. "I wanted you to be happy. And you were always with me anyway."

Brennan smiles to himself when he arrives a few minutes later. Eleven years later he knows he made the right choice. "Get a room, you two," he laconically quips as he walks by, causing his subordinates to burst into laughter—which is his entire point.

"Do you want to go get a drink?" Janet offers. "Or what can I do to help you?"

"Be here for me tomorrow." Michael would love nothing more than to spend some quality time with his best friend, but there's something else he needs to attend to first. "I've got somewhere to be tonight," he continues.

A half-hour later he's standing in Luke's doorway with another six-pack of soda. "I thought it should be my round," he says by way of explanation. Luke chuckles before letting him in. They've never been that close, and then five and a half years of personal tension had only made their relationship worse. But for the first time, they can see through each other's eyes and the world looks different.

[End.]

devil you know, part 11;
They're running out of time. Both Luke and Michael know that as they look at each other across the desks in the FBI financial crimes bullpen. Tomorrow morning Michael will go head to head with Melissa Wallace and he only gets one shot to prove she had her ex-husband killed. That's why they'll stay here all night reviewing the evidence if they have to.

Luke doesn't even know what to say to Michael, but he doesn't have to. "Usually this is the kind of obsessive behavior I see from you and Janet," Anthony Brennan interrupts as he appears seemingly out of nowhere. Michael snorts. "I didn't plan on this and he's not as good-looking," he retorts and Luke can only chuckle at what's meant to be an insult but is also actually true. "How much do you have?" Brennan asks. "We're sure Melissa was plotting Mark's murder and got Thomas Marshall involved in it," Michael replies. "We can put her at the scene but not that she did anything. We need his records to put him there—but Luke got a DNA sample we can test against the body."

This gets Brennan to turn and give Luke a skeptical glance and the U.S. Attorney shrugs. "He needs to quit smoking," he says by way of explanation before something else occurs to Michael and he slams his hand down on the desk. "We need a second test," he declares. "We have her DNA from when she was booked in nine years ago. We can get results on that right now."

"Call the crime lab." Luke's eyes widen at the clue he hadn't even thought about. Brennan's already picking up the cigarette butt—long since properly transferred to an evidence bag—off the desk and reaching for his keys. "I'll take it down there," he says. "I can get them to rush the tests." No one has any idea how and they know better than to ask. Brennan has a way of getting what he wants. "Just don't do anything else potentially illegal while I'm gone," he adds as he leaves, because he always has to have the last word.

Michael exhales as soon as his boss has left the bullpen. It's all starting to come together in his mind and he feels that adrenaline rush along with another wave of frustration at how the victims in his case became no better than the person who victimized them. Luke can see that look on his face and gestures toward him. "Say it," he says, knowing it needs to come out now while they can still do something about it.

"Mark goes to Melissa trying to restart his career. She finds out he's double-crossing her again and kills his loan chances. He threatens her with blackmail so she decides to put him down. When Marshall calls, that's the perfect opportunity for her to enlist a patsy. She plays on his anger to get him to commit the murder - and thinks she can sell him out to us. After all, even if he tries to implicate her, there's nothing to suggest her involvement except for the phone call. But her DNA under his fingernails is a massive mistake."

"Smart criminals just make smarter mistakes." Luke replies. "He thought he had it all figured out and you got him, too."

"I know." Michael nods, taking a deep breath. "It also means she's not any better than he is."

Luke knows better than to answer that. The retort on his tongue is that Melissa Wallace was married to Mark for over a decade, so Michael was naive to think she didn't know what she was getting into. She simply wasn't as flawed as her ex. But he understands why Michael would feel that way or want to feel that way—he wants to believe there's some good in people. Luke's moral standards are much less forgiving. He drops his eyes to the paperwork in front of him and starts thinking about what they'll need for trial. "What about the address?" he asks again.

"We never cross-checked it with Marshall." Michael relaxes and settles back into his chair. He turns to the nearest computer and starts searching their databases. After a few minutes of coming up empty, he mentally reviews their conversation with the suspect and something else comes to mind. A glance at the middle school's website and he finds what they've been debating for days. "The guy who owns that home is listed as an assistant football coach at Moriarty Middle School. Marshall chose the location for the murder."

"Which means he can't argue that he wasn't a co-conspirator." Luke nods. "We have to establish the chain of communication. Because you noticed she never texted any of this—so nothing we could recover. Establish a timeline and prove there's no way that there wasn't something going on."

Right after the words leave his mouth, he's getting up to do exactly that. There's a reason there's a white board in the bullpen. Now his expertise is coming in handy; this is going to be a circumstantial evidence case, probably always was if he was honest with himself. He needs to build something logically strong enough so that any DNA is just the cherry on top and that a jury overlooks the ongoing question of the murder weapon. He's writing for several long minutes, knowing Michael's watching him but locked into his own mind. He doesn't stop until he has the entire board full with everything they know or think happened in the last month.

"Fuck," Michael says when Luke steps back. Because the totality of evidence amounts to exactly what he's been saying but hoping wasn't true all along. Nothing ever changed. Mark Wallace never learned his lesson and his wife turned out to be just as ruthless. He feels like the conviction he earned nine years ago didn't mean anything at all.

Luke glances at him because he can guess that feeling. He doesn't want Michael to feel that way. Especially now that he has a better idea of what Michael and Janet went through back then, he knows how much they put into that win. But saying that out loud requires emotions that Luke isn't great at tapping into, and he doesn't want them to come out wrong. "You should get out of here," he demurs. "You can't be working all night when you have to interrogate her in the morning. You've got to be at your best."

Michael knows he has a point, but: "Someone has to be here to wait for the DNA results and pull all this together."

"I'll do it," Luke says with a confidence he's surprised he feels.

The look they exchange is loaded with questions in both directions. Luke has been leaning on Michael to tell him what to do and not to do as an investigator and now he has to trust he can get it right without that security blanket. Michael has to trust Luke with the preparation of a case that he can use to make an arrest. By the time he comes to work in the morning, he'll have only a few hours to go over the details before he meets with Melissa and her lawyer. Their only way through is to completely trust each other.

"Go on, get out of here," Luke repeats. "I'll call you if anything major comes up. And you call me if you need me. But your responsibility is tomorrow. This is on me tonight."

Michael nods and gathers his belongings, silently tossing Luke his keys to the office before he walks out. Luke settles back into his chair to stare at the white board and then turns his attention to the paperwork splayed in front of him to start a new page of notes. That's where Brennan finds him two hours later and leaves him an hour after that. Luke is going to stay in that office as long as it takes to make right what should have never been put wrong in the first place.

devil you know, part 7;
Luke Cameron strides back into the U.S. Attorney's Office with a new determination. He always walks around like he owns the place, but today he's particularly purposeful. Having laid everything on the line with Michael last night, he's even more determined to put whoever killed Mark Wallace behind bars. And he knows that he has to lie to his boss, which has lit a fire under him in another way. If he's going to break Bryan's trust it had better damn well be worth it. So everyone notices when he shows up sans jacket or tie and moves through the bullpen without stopping, going directly to his supervisor's office before Bryan can even finish reading his email. "You have got to stop doing that," his boss comments, but that's before he actually turns his head and sees Luke. Even Bryan Alexander knows not to fuck with him when he has that dead-set look in his eyes. That power is one of the reasons Bryan wants him to be U.S. Attorney someday. "What is it?" he asks cautiously.

"You're the one who wanted to be kept in the loop," Luke retorts before he continues, "We've got several suspects. But we've got a problem with Melissa Wallace."

"The first suspect in any murder is always someone's ex or significant other," Bryan points out. "What's the problem?"

"When Metro made the death notification, her lawyer called the FBI," Luke explains. "She's presenting herself as a potential witness."

"That could be a good—" Bryan cuts himself off when he sees Luke's sarcastic look. The younger man is always skeptical of anyone involved in politics and he's never going to be able to convince him otherwise. "Did they say what she's got to talk about?" he says instead.

"No." Luke shakes his head. "Which is where I need your help. Have you heard any gossip about it? Or can you put your ear to the ground and see if you hear anything? Our key witness from the last case wants to swing this one, too, there's got to be something going on here."

"To be fair, we only flipped her nine years ago because she wanted to screw her husband."

"Well, I haven't ruled that out again either." Luke exhales. "Listen, the FBI has the evidentiary part of this under control. What I need to do is get into the circumstantial evidence. There's going to be reasonable doubt hell unless I can untangle Wallace's issues, and you know that world. I'm not asking you to get involved. I'm just asking if you catch any idea of who is."

Bryan nods. "You forget I used to be you before you got here," he comments, glancing out the window of his office. He hasn't prosecuted more than a few cases in the last fifteen years, but before that he had to make the same climb to the top. He knows what Luke is getting at—specifically the pitfalls he's trying to avoid. The most obvious defense will be to point at all the other suspects, which is exactly what happened in the Dexter Vincent trial, and it just takes one to create doubt. Plus, even though Wallace is deceased, if they dig up anything now related to the prior case, that could still prompt a review. At the very least, it'll be terrible PR for the office, and he needs his team looking like they can handle politically-related investigations. They're in Washington, where half of what happens is politically related. "All right, I have a couple of people I can ask," he concedes. "I'll let you know if any of them talk. Did you find anything else I should be aware of?"

"No," Luke lies, keeping an absolutely straight face. "Not yet."

But he doesn't breathe easy until several minutes later, when he's finished going into his office and checking in with Pat Ryden, and is in the hallway outside. Luke isn't like Janet where lying makes her ill; his morals are a little more flexible. But it still doesn't make him feel good. Bryan has put an awful lot of faith in him over the last eleven years and while he never chose to be the U.S. Attorney's golden boy, he understands it's going to hurt when Bryan finds out he lied. Because it's absolutely going to come out. He harbors no illusions about that. He exhales tightly and steps into the elevator.

When he arrives at the financial crimes office, Michael is already briefing the rest of the team. He slept a lot easier after a late-night conversation with Janet about her and Holden's trip to the Los Angeles Zoo, and he's always been incredibly organized. The video board lists all of the details about the murder, followed by a separate screen about the owners of the home at which Wallace was found. "We still have no connection between him and the Barkers," he's explaining before Luke's arrival gets him to turn his attention to the prosecutor. "How many names did you find?" he asks, pulling Luke aside.

"Seven." Luke exhales. "Four that check to the original case, but I'm more worried about the three new ones. And yes, Melissa is one of them."

"Okay, we've got to work those up first." Michael already knows how to handle that workload. "Tayshia, can you guys look into a couple of people for me?" he asks his colleagues. "Luke's going to give you four names from Wallace's original case. I need to know if they connect to the house and what they're doing now. We'll work the other ones."

"Yeah, sure." Tayshia Grant nods, tossing Luke a pen so he can write the names down for her as she continues to study the board. "The key is going to be where his phone puts him, because whoever he was with the night before probably killed him. In that area, I'm not buying a random attacker."

"Me either. We're still waiting on the phone records and then we'll update the board." Michael breaks up the meeting after that and heads for his and Janet's office with Luke right behind him. He's aware that this isn't about who did it as much as why. If they get a few more details they can narrow down their suspects. The heart of the case is understanding whatever controversy prompted the death and being able to connect the two. "How did your conversation go?" he asks, tossing his jacket over the back of his chair while he eyes up the white board he filled before he left the night before. The one that reminds him of everything that happened nine years ago.

"It was fine. I asked him to tell me if he hears any gossip about who or what might be involved," Luke explains, circling around to Janet's desk. He's trying not to move too many of her things but he still stops to water Grogu as a way of buying them both another minute to calm down. "There's one other question we're not asking yet," he says. "Where's the murder weapon? The people we're looking at are not the type to be carrying knives. Unless they planned this out."

"If that was the case, why not bring a gun?" Michael replies. "No. That's the problem we have to overcome. There's an incongruity between the where and the why we have to solve." He thinks about Miami, which didn't make a lot of sense either until he'd seen the actual dimensions of the crime scene. "It's possible for this to be an impulsive attack by someone he had a history with."

"Then who was stupid enough to get involved with him again?" Luke asks. "Knowing the damage he did, and possibly knowing the havoc he was about to wreak a second time? Who knew what they were in for and still took that risk?" The unanswered question hangs in the air between them, Luke not understanding yet that he's just figured out a disturbing truth.

devil you know, part 3;
"They counted seventeen stab wounds," an exasperated Luke tells his boss upon his return to the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Whoever killed Wallace hunted him down and didn't think anything of leaving his body in plain view. This is something that's going to get nasty, and I don't want to leave it for it to come back to us."

To his credit, Bryan Alexander is completely unfazed by Luke having walked straight into his office without having knocked first and by how annoyed Luke is about this. He expected some sort of an argument when Luke had informed him about Wallace's murder two hours ago. Once Luke Cameron makes up his mind, he's almost impossible to shake—and Bryan is the kind of boss who's willing to listen as long as someone can make their case. They are lawyers, after all. "What do you think you're going to do?" he asks. "The FBI has the investigation under control."

"We might be able to get at people in ways they can't." Luke takes a breath and settles his hands on his hips, thinking out loud now that he's gotten his feelings off his chest. "There's going to be a political angle to this based on Wallace's history. Some high-profile people we'll have to talk to. It might be more palatable for me to be asking than the Bureau."

Bryan can't argue with that; he knows Wallace's release created a stir in D.C. political circles because that was how he had learned the news a month ago. Seeing an FBI badge would immediately put some of those people on the defensive, while Luke would at least be able to use his own connections. But he didn't get to become U.S. Attorney without knowing how to play the game, and he's well aware that Luke Cameron does not get involved in investigations. There's an ulterior motive here that Luke hasn't copped to. "What's your real stake in this?" he says.

Luke knew he was going to have to answer that question. He'd have to explain why he was willing to put aside his own work, even if fortunately it was a light workload without an active trial, to do something he was on record as disliking and being underqualified for. He's been mulling the answer since he decided he was going to do this back at the crime scene and he's barely convinced himself. "I've known Michael Davis for eleven years," he says with a sigh. "He had the original case and it put him through the wringer. This is dragging it all back up. If I can do anything to make it easier, for him and for us, then I want to."

"I can't just not have a bureau chief here for the next week."

"I know. I'll work it around my schedule, and I'll keep my phone on me." He nods. "I'm not even sure he'll want me there very long. But this is one of our best agents and he deserves the support."

He's looking his boss dead on, trying to get a read on Bryan at the moment. Luke doesn't ask him for many favors, and the last time he had an instinct about something, it was John Wexler blowing up his own house and solving the murder of a senator's daughter. He's proven that he has his own good sense. And ironically, since he's slated to be in the office this week, he's easier to let go of than an actual investigator like Bryan Ritter, who has leads to chase on other assignments. "All right, run it out," Bryan says. "But I want daily updates, and if you have any misgivings, you clear it with me first. I don't need my top deputy making headlines."

"I might ask you for help anyway," Luke admits, shoulders relaxing now that he knows he's not about to be ordered back to his office or yelled at. "Whoever did this is somebody Wallace pissed off in more than the last month."

But that's all he says as he walks out of Bryan's office and across to his own just long enough to see if there are any emails he needs to answer or anything else that can't sit until tomorrow. Everyone is watching as Luke heads out as brusquely as he came in, stopping only to duck into the conference room where Patrick Ryden is preparing for his interviews. "What was that about?" Pat asks, having seen Luke come in and now clearly on his way back out. "Where are you going?"

"The department's gonna be yours for a couple of days," Luke explains, yanking at the knot in his tie and shoving it in his pocket. "I need to help the FBI with a murder case."

"The last time you did that, you got shot."

"Thanks for the reminder." He actually had forgotten that part and now it makes him tense just a little bit more as he rolls his neck. "Call me if you need to, but I'm going to be in and out of the office, so don't hold things up on my account. I have to figure out who killed Mark Wallace."

Now it's Ryden's turn to visibly cringe because he's seen the news reports on the TV in the bullpen. "That's an interesting list," he says. "Do they have any idea?"

"Not yet. That's what I'm going in for. I'm the last person who's still on staff from the Benton era so I'm hoping I can narrow it down. Plus, the lead investigator is Michael Davis." Luke doesn't have to explain as much to Pat as he did to Bryan. Pat knows how Luke's brain works and about his relationship to Michael. His right-hand man takes the situation in stride hearing those two facts. "I'll call if we need you," he agrees. "Take care of yourself."

Luke nods but doesn't answer as he walks out of the conference room and the office. His own well-being is the last thing he's concerned with right now. Several blocks away, Michael is having a similar and much less complicated conversation with Supervisory Special Agent Anthony Brennan. Brennan and the financial crimes team were already prepared for this thanks to Michael bringing up Wallace's release in the team meeting a month ago, and Brennan isn't dealing with someone as volatile as Luke. In fact, he's wondering why Michael isn't more perturbed by the recent turn of events. "You work this like any other case," he says. "And remember that what you did nine years ago isn't under investigation. Its only relevance is helping you get to the truth."

"Janet said the same thing." Michael chuckles humorlessly. "I just don't want to do this again."

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do. Nobody's going to have the familiarity with Wallace's history that I do. I experienced things that aren't in that file." He exhales. "Luke Cameron's coming in to help me look at the political angle, but it's almost certainly related. Even if Wallace pissed someone off more recently, he had to have gone back to someone to help him get his career restarted."

"You and Luke working together ought to be a barrel of laughs," Brennan replies drily, ignoring Michael's own sarcastic look. "At least you convinced Janet not to come back from California."

"Yeah, she's going to be upset when she gets back. I know she feels responsible, same as I would for her." He sighs, a renewed pang of guilt in his heart thinking about how anxious Janet must be right now. "It's not an ideal situation, Tony. But Wallace deserves justice just like any other victim. And I'm the best person to find it."

"Let me know if you need any help. I don't mind screwing with anyone." Brennan leans back in his chair. "And if you ever don't think you can do this, you can say so."

Michael likewise won't back off but for entirely different reasons from Luke. Luke's angry about Wallace being released at all and wants to protect the people closest to him; he's taking this personally, both as a friend and as an attorney. Michael has put his own frustration about the issue aside and he feels obligated to finish what should've been done already. This isn't about him; it's about doing what's right. "You trusted me with this nine years ago," he says. "I need to see it through."