January 17, 1990

I was sitting at my desk, working on paperwork. I wasn't going undercover today, but me, Doug, and Ioki all had to cover some shifts over at Metro Police Department so we were all in our uniforms. We unanimously chose to wear our dark long sleeved uniforms because of how cold it was outside.

After I finished one of the many reports I had to tackle, I took the paper out of my type writer and leaned back in my chair. I observed my coworkers working feverishly to accomplish what they needed to for the day, and I let out a sigh. I stated, "it's so quiet in here."

Ioki gasped as he looked up at me and Doug shushed me.

I furrowed my eyebrows at them and asked, "what?"

"That's a cursed word," Doug stated.

I wanted to laugh. They think way too hard about dumb things like that. Once, I was helping Doug and his friend adopt a cat, and Doug had feverishly warned him about the apparent dangers of black cats. I said, "that's only for hospitals."

"And police stations," Ioki added while flipping a page over.

"This is a precinct. I doubt me saying that it's quiet will result in anything exciting," I said and shuffled my papers together. They are way too superstitious.

"I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I'm also not the dumbest," Doug said, "and even I know better than to say that."

Suddenly, Fuller burst out of his office and raced around the chapel. His keys were jingling in his hand when he told us, "guys, we have an emergency."

Doug glared at me but I rolled my eyes at him. This was just a coincidence.

"What's the problem, Cap?" Ioki asked.

"Bus 14 from the Metropolitan School District had its breaks cut, and we have reason to believe that there is a bomb on board," Fuller stated.

"Where are they?" Doug asked.

"They're driving right alongside Evergreen Lake, driving over a hundred miles an hour."

"Are there kids on the bus?" I asked as I began to stand up from my chair.

"The bus driver said that he thinks everyone made it off and into the water," Fuller said as he put on his jacket. "But you all should know that Mickey was on that bus, and she wasn't found in the lake."

I froze and got big eyed. "Mickey is still on the bus?!"

"We have to leave, now," Fuller said firmly with a tight nod. "But I want you all to be fully aware of how this will probably end. Penhall, I want you to call the search and rescue team."

I glanced over at Doug and we exchanged helpless looks. Fuller was preparing us for the huge probability that Mickey was going to die on the bus. Doug quickly grabbed his phone and dialed a number and held the receiver to his ear.

"This is Officer Doug Penhall with Jump Street. I need a search and rescue team on stand-by... yeah, the interstate beside Evergreen Lake. Um... yeah, caucasian, brown hair... eye color, hazel. Officer Michelle Gregg. Yeah, she's on the bus. Great." Doug hung up and turned to us to say, "they're gonna meet us there."

"I'll drive," Ioki offered.

We all raced out of the chapel and Fuller told us to take a pick-up truck. Ioki hopped into the drivers seat while Doug and I jumped into the bed of the truck, and Ioki took off as fast as he could. Fuller jumped into a cruiser and was following us close behind.

All I could hear was the wind in my ears and I could feel my hair whipping around my face as we sped down the road. We quickly reached the interstate after flashing our badges at a cop who was blocking the entrance for civilians.

I finally caught sight of a yellow school bus, and Ioki floored the accelerator to catch up. I didn't even want to think about how fast we were going. I was gripping the side of the truck so I wouldn't fly out myself.

I noticed that people that were still on the road were getting out of the way of the school bus. When the bus did approach a car, I could hear someone slam on the horn until they moved. I assumed that Mickey was at the wheel, and I quickly realized that she couldn't move the steering wheel. It was probably locked.

"Tom, look," Doug yelled over the sound of the wind and pointed straight ahead. I followed his finger and noticed that the freeway turns. If she can't turn the wheel of the bus, she is going to drive through the metal barrier and fall over the high cliff. No one would be able to survive that.

Ioki drove us steadily until we were driving right along side of the bus. Through the windows, I could see that Mickey was not alone. She was manning the wheel, but there was a little red headed girl in a wheelchair right beside her. Ioki honked the horn loudly to get their attention.

Mickey immediately turned her head in our direction, and I waved my arm up so she could see us in the back.

Doug cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted at Mickey through the open door, "get in before it runs off the cliff!"

Mickey gave us a quick nod and ran to the little girl. She quickly lifted her off the wheelchair and carefully walked to the open doors of the bus. I saw her whisper something to the child, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

My heart was racing as Mickey slowly stepped down the stairs of the bus and locked eyes with Doug. Doug lifted his arms up, and Mickey tossed the kid into Doug's arms. She screamed as she flew through the air, and Doug wrapped his arms around her. He dropped to the bed of the truck and let her lay on his stomach so she couldn't fly out.

I looked down at the girl and she looked terrified. Doug consoled her gently, reassuring her that she was all right. She looked really young, I would guess seven or eight. She had curly red hair and thick glasses.

I looked back up at Mickey and shouted at her, "now you! Get out, now!"

I could see how white Mickey's knuckles were getting from how hard she was gripping the handrail. I briefly looked down at the road between us, and I wish I didn't. It was moving so fast, I thought I might get sick. I could feel my heart in my throat. I wiped my clammy palms on my slacks before I extended my arms towards her. I could only imagine the fear pumping through her veins right now. I was ready to catch her, but all she had to do was trust me and jump.

Mickey kept looking down at the road, and I could read her mind. Looking down was difficult for me, and I'm not the one who has to jump. I yelled at her, "don't look down! Look at me! Look right here. Trust me! I've got you!"

She looked back up at me, and I could see the sheer terror that dominated her expression. Her eyes were wide, and her fear was expressed through her trembling lips and flexed nose. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and the wind was making it difficult to hear anything. I took a step to readjust my stance on the moving truck and kept my arms up.

Doug quickly sat up and still held the child in his arms. He looked up at me and said, "we are running out of time."

Suddenly, the bus hit a small bump but it was going so fast, it launched in the air and crashed back down. I gasped as I saw Mickey's legs collapse and she fell backwards into the bus.

"Shit," I said under my breath. I looked down for just a moment as Mickey was getting back up to her feet, and I saw that the bus was drifting further away from us. I leaned over the edge and yelled at Ioki, "Ioki, get closer!"

Ioki gradually began to scoot us closer to the bus, and I peered over the truck to see where we were headed towards. My heart dropped to my stomach and my breathing halted. The cliff was getting closer and closer, and my stress levels were higher than they've ever been. I was running on pure panic, and sweat was building up at my hairline. So many scenarios were running through my mind. I imagined Mickey never getting off the bus and helplessly watching it run off the edge of the cliff; I imagined the bomb going off and seeing nothing but fire, smoke, and pink mist; and I imagined Mickey jumping, but me failing to catch her. I don't think I've ever been so afraid. 

My anxiety was running at an all time high. I could feel my heart beating in my ears, and I was desperate to get her off of that bus and safely in my arms. My chest was aching so bad, like I was having a heart attack. I was terrified of losing her. Without thinking, I shouted, "hurry up! I don't want to see someone I love get hurt!"

Mickey froze, looking at me with the wind whipping her hair everywhere. Her beautiful eyes were wide, and I quickly realized what I blurted. I could hear Ioki shout from the drivers seat, "what?!"

We had been so careful about announcing our relationship to anyone. We were threatened to be terminated, because there is a strict rule against it. I had absolutely no control over the words that spilled out of my mouth. As soon as I said it, I instantly didn't regret it. I don't even care if I'm fired. I'm done with hiding my true feelings about the woman I love.

Mickey asked, "you love me?!"

"Of course I do!" I yelled and lifted my arms up at her again. "Now get your ass in here!"

"I'm going to have to break!" Ioki called out from the drivers seat.

I peered back up at the road and saw that the interstate was about to turn to avoid the massive cliff. We must have been driving over a hundred miles an hour, and our time was almost up. We had a very short window of opportunity to get her off that bus, and it was closing quickly.

"Mickey, get in here, now!" Doug yelled at her as he was still clutching the girl to his chest.

Mickey finally took the leap of faith from the truck. I felt Doug grab a hold of my ankle so I couldn't fall out, but I kept my eyes on Mickey. I wrapped my arms around her as she flew through the air and I held her tight as her momentum caused us both to fall to the floor of the truck, just as Ioki slammed on the breaks. The tires squealed as we skidded to a stop, right on the edge of the cliff. Mickey tucked her face into my arm and I squeezed her as tight as I could, gripping her through her pink sweater. I put my hand on her head to protect her, and I held her close. My mouth was gaping open as I tried to catch my breath, and I could feel my heart beating against her chest. I could feel hers too.

Mickey quickly rolled off of me and we both sat up to watch the bus barrel through the guardrail and it raced off of the cliff. My chest was heaving as I tried to slow my breath, but then the bus exploded.

I exclaimed in shock and I frantically pushed Mickey back to the floor. I threw myself on top of her as broken and burnt pieces of the bus flew through the air and landed around us. I squeezed my eyes shut and used my head to protect Mickey's. I could feel bits and pieces landing on my back and the back of my head. The smoke was making everyone cough, but the wind quickly blew it away.

I lifted my head up shakily when I couldn't hear anything falling around us anymore. I let out a soft groan and I rolled off of Mickey. She looked up at the sky, and gulped. I looked at her and reached over to hold her face in my hand tenderly.

"Are you all right?" I asked. She nodded but I still asked, "you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she reassured.

"You scared me, don't do that again," I pleaded.

"I don't plan on it," she said.

Ioki had to reverse to get us away from the cliffs edge and then pulled over so we were away from the road. Cop cars were racing up to us, their lights were flashing and sirens were blaring until they parked. A fire truck and an ambulance came too. No civilian cars drove past, so I assumed that they closed this part of the interstate down.

I hopped out of the truck first and offered my hand to help Mickey down. Fuller came out of one of the cruisers and came up to us. He asked if we were all right, and Mickey reassured that she did not need an EMT checking her out.

"How's the kid?" Fuller asked, nodding toward the little red head girl. I looked past Mickey and saw that Doug was talking and playing around with her while one of the EMT's were checking her.

Mickey gave off a relieved smile and said, "she's good. Probably spooked is all."

Fuller nodded. "I'll be right back," he said and left to talk to more of the EMT's.

I felt so relieved, I would have collapsed from how quickly my adrenaline left my body. I stepped in front of Mickey and scanned her quickly to make sure that she was actually in front of me, and not just a figment of my imagination. I finally said, "I hate having a job where I see people that I care about get hurt."

She nodded softly, "I know."

"I was afraid that I was going to lose you," I told her.

Before I knew it, Mickey's lips were on mine. Every ounce of fear left my body and I put my hands on her waist to pull her in closer. She pulled away, just a couple of inches but her forehead pressed to mine. My mind went blank. It was as if every care in the world disappeared all at once and I pulled her in again. Mickey makes my world stop. I was so overjoyed to have her safe in my arms again, I couldn't help myself. I had love on my brain, and I didn't care who knew it. For her, I will forever take my heart and my pride and just throw it aside to show everyone how much I love her. I was being careless, and I forgot I was being careless until we heard someone clear their throat.

Mickey and I pulled away from each other and I peered over to find the source of the noise. When I saw it was Fuller, I mumbled, "oh..."

Fuller had his hands on his hips and we looked at us with flared nostrils and a narrow scowl. He used his finger to point at us and asked, "how long has this been... a thing?"

I cleared my throat and looked down at Mickey. Her previous expression of care-free bliss had quickly become fear. I decided to answer for us, "a few months, sir."

"Is it official?" He asked with a clench of his jaw.

Mickey looked up at me and we both instantly smiled at one another. Every time I look at her, I forget about the troubles of the real world. I can read her mind, and she can read mine. I answered, "I don't want to speak for Mickey... but it's pretty official."

Fuller exhaled roughly, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I was fully prepared to get reprimanded, but he said, "I ought to fire you... but I'm not going to do that. This hasn't interfered with your work... yet. Will this interfere?"

We both shook our heads, "no, sir."

"Good. These kinds of relationships aren't allowed."

"We know," I said.

"However, I'll make an exception. When you come into work tomorrow—I mean, Monday, you'll need to sit with Human Resources and fill out a formal declaration of the Consensual Relationship Agreement. Understood?"

"Loud and clear, Captain," I said and Mickey nodded her head.

"All right," he said and walked off.

We looked at each other and chuckled and kissed again. I'm so happy we don't have to hide anymore. My heart can sore, with Mickey right beside me.

Mickey gasped and said, "I have to tell Fuller something."

"Can it wait?" I playfully whined.

"No, because I'll forget again."

"Fine." I let her go. She called out to Fuller and raced over to talk to him.

Doug came over to stand beside me and he said, "finally out in the open, huh?"

I smiled softly over at Mickey. Doug had already known about our relationship because I accidentally blurted it out to him on New Years Eve. I said, "yeah. It feels good."

"Good, I'm happy for you, man," Doug said and patted my shoulder.

"Thanks," I said to him.

Mickey was the best thing I never knew I needed. I don't want to lose her or be without her ever again. It's so clear to me now that I always need her here with me. Who knew I could be undeniably happier with her next to me?

Mickey came running back and I welcomed her into my arms. I put my hands on top of her shoulders and she said, "I have to go—I'm going to go arrest Robert Kemper. He rigged the bus, and he was the one who has been making the threats."

I smiled at how excited she was. I love watching her eyes light up. "Kiss me hard before you go."

When she kissed me, she pulled away and I said, "go get your bust, babe."

She grinned at me and raced to the cruiser with Fuller. He flipped on his lights and zoomed off to the school.

Tom's version of Valentine's Day is next!