4338.211 · July 30, 2018 AD
Career Suicide
Mud-streaked detectives stumble into Claiborne's office requesting resources they won't receive. When denial comes—procedural, final, reasonable—Karl's control shatters completely. The door slams. The bullpen falls silent. In the car park, Sarah watches her partner walk toward career suicide with determined strides. She has three seconds to decide: let him fall alone, or jump into the passenger seat and fall with him. The engine starts. The choice is made. There's no coming back from this.
Fluorescent lights reveal the damage after hours in wilderness. They look like combat survivors—mud to their thighs, clothes dripping, faces marked by exhaustion and something deeper. Karl requests an unmarked car for surveillance on Gladys's house.
Claiborne's refusal is reasonable. Other patrols already scheduled. Standard procedure sufficient. The right call.
Karl explodes. Storms from the office, shoulder clipping doorframe, door slamming with violence that silences the entire bullpen. Every officer watches him pass, tracking the unravelling in real time.
Sarah follows into rain-slicked car park. Karl moves with purpose toward his vehicle, keys already in hand, already committed to defying direct orders. When she tries stopping him, his response is blunt: he doesn't care what the Sergeant said.
Insubordination in motion. The kind of decision that gets detectives suspended or fired.
Sarah has three seconds. Watch him destroy himself alone? Or enable the defiance despite knowing how badly this ends?
She opens the passenger door. Climbs in without hesitation.
Relief floods Karl's face. No lecture about protocol. No reminder of consequences. Just solidarity. He leans across console, kisses her—release, plea, gratitude combined. Her fingers curl around his collar.
Engine roars. They pull into the night. The case has consumed them completely. Professional boundaries erased. The cost still accumulating.
