Faithfulness in the Center

Part 14

Waves of mental anguish flooded Peter's mind. Kermit was dreaming. Peter's eyes opened with difficulty. God he was tired, and the images from Kermit's mind were interfering in the young Shaolin's attempt to get well-deserved sleep. It was obvious that the nightmares were disrupting Kermit's sleep as well.

Kermit had kicked Peter out of his bedroom an hour before. Peter had willing left the room, but warned that he would be in the living room, 'just in case.' Kermit was still fighting overwhelming feelings of guilt for the torture he had caused Peter. Even though logic told him that Stiles had controlled his actions, his sub-conscious wouldn't accept the absolution.

Now, Peter was stretched out on the couch, trying to get some sleep. He realized that he had been up for most of the past 48 hours and he was exhausted. Kermit had to be feeling the same way. Peter knew that part of Kermit's difficulty in accepting the memories of the past was because of his physical exhaustion. Perhaps sleep, even if interrupted by dreams, would help Kermit to see clearer in the morning.

Peter closed his eyes again, attempting to block Kermit's visions, allowing his mind to drift into the solitude he felt when he was in his secret place. The sudden ring from the telephone on the end table jolted him from his rest with a start. Peter scrambled to answer the phone before it rang a second time, with the hopes that Kermit would not be wakened.

"Kermit Griffin's residence," he answered.

"Peter?" Peter immediately recognized Captain Simm's voice.

"Evening, Captain."

"I'm glad you're there. Is Kermit with you?" Peter detected worry in the question.

"Yeah. He's sleeping. Do you want to talk to him?" Peter glanced back at the bedroom to see if the ex-mercenary was awake.

There was a long silence, then Simm's answered, "No." Silence again. "Peter, we have a problem."

Peter closed his eyes, not wanting to hear what the Captain had to say next. She continued despite his mental pleas to stop, "Have you seen the news?"

"No." Peter had turned off the hockey game immediately upon reentering the living room, despite the fact the game was into its closing minutes. He just didn't have the desire to watch the game after having dealt with his friend's anguish. "What's happened?" He really didn't want to know, knowing full well that the news was bad.

"Some how. . .I don't know how. . .Sandra Mason has found out that Kermit's personnel file is missing." Yep, it was bad, all right.

"Has the department responded?" Peter asked.

"No. Not yet. Peter there's more."

"Oh wonderful." For some reason, Peter knew it was going to get worse.

"Sandra has reported that there are rumors that Kermit was a mercenary. She's raising all sorts of questions about his past. . .about the real reason the file is missing. She's decided to make this story her Watergate." Yeah, sure enough. . . it was worse.

Karen continued talking, "I don't want Kermit coming in tomorrow. It'll cause a scene. Hell, there's going to be a scene here anyway. His presence will make this precinct look like war zone. "

"Okay. I'll let him know, Captain."

Before Peter could say goodbye, Karen interrupted, "Detective? Peter?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Thank you. Thank you for keeping watch over him." Karen's words betrayed her feelings for the mysterious detective.

"No problem, Captain." Peter hung up, wondering how he was going to break this latest bit of bad news to his friend. Hearing the sound of the bedroom doorknob turning, he realized that he was going to have to figure out a way fairly quick.

"Who was that?" was the tired question from Kermit. The man was, amazingly, still in his black slacks and white shirt, although both looked rumpled at the moment.

"Captain Simms." Peter responded, without volunteering more information.

"What did she want?" Kermit entered the living room. The soft light from the lamp on the end table emphasized the dark circles which had formed under his eyes.

Upon seeing the exhaustion in his friend's face, Peter came to a decision that he was sure to regret later, "She was just checking on you. Wanted to make sure you were okay," he lied.

"What'd you tell her?" Kermit asked suspiciously.

"Told her that you were trying to get some rest, but otherwise you were doing okay." Peter shrugged innocently.

"Fibbing to the Captain. . .that's a no-no." The ex-mercenary waggled a finger at Peter. "You're never going to move up in the ranks by doing that."

Peter smiled, "Yeah, well, I never thought of myself as command material anyway."

He stood and gently pushed Kermit back towards the bedroom. "Get some sleep."

Kermit's instinct was to push back, but he realized that he was in no condition to fight a younger cop. . .especially a younger, Shaolin cop. He resigned himself to returning to the darkness of the bedroom. "Okay. I'll go to bed. But sleep may be more difficult, if the last hour is any indication. I have a feeling it could be a long night." He started to walk into the room, but then stopped, "Peter, go home. You need sleep, too."

"I'll be fine out here." Peter sat back down on the couch.

"Suit yourself. . .but I told you earlier that I don't need a babysitter," the man grumbled as he shut the bedroom door.

Peter closed his eyes, but not to sleep. Instead, his mind was filled with self-doubt. He had just lied to Kermit. Had he done the right thing? He had seen the weariness in his friend's features and knew that if he told him what had happened with Sandra Mason's report, Kermit would be up for the rest of the night. His friend had dealt with enough grief this evening. He certainly didn't need anymore.

Peter decided that he had done what was best for his friend. He only hoped that his friend saw it that way. Settling back down on the couch, Peter allowed his mind to drift off to sleep.

Peter woke to the smell of coffee drifting from the kitchen. The morning sun was streaming through the dining room window. From it's position, Peter guessed it was about 7:00. He pushed back the afghan that he had used during the night and squinted at his watch, 6:45.

He listened for sounds from the kitchen, but heard nothing. Curious, he pushed his body off the couch, stretching his stiff muscles, and followed the aroma of the coffee to the kitchen. Kermit was sitting at the kitchen table, head in hands. He was still dressed in his white shirt and black slacks.

"Morning." Peter said to his friend. Kermit didn't respond. Peter walked to the table and repeated his greeting a little louder, "Good morning."

There was still no response from the man. "Hey, Buddy, you okay?" Peter asked, placing a hand on the man's right shoulder.

The speed of Kermit's movement took Peter by surprise as the man lunged from the chair and pushed Peter back against the refrigerator, his right forearm pressed against the younger man's neck, "You lied to me, again!"

Peter, confused, didn't know what to say. Kermit continued, "I trusted you to tell me the truth and instead you lied to me."

"What? What's going on?" Peter croaked, trying to get air into his windpipe. Suddenly a look of utter horror crossed over Kermit's features and the man pulled his arm away.

"I'm. . .I'm sorry. I shouldn't. . .shouldn't have done that to you," he stuttered. Peter knew, instinctively, that this attack had brought back the memories of the other attack on Peter.

Kermit backed away to the other side of the kitchen table, his eyes dropping to it. Looking down at the table, it suddenly dawned on Peter what had Kermit's attention. The morning's newspaper was open to the front page. In large black letters, the headline read "Hired Killer on City's Payroll?"

"You knew about this didn't you. That's what the Captain told you last night, isn't it." The whispered voice was filed with accusation.

Peter nodded. "I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, but with everything else that happened, I thought it would be best to wait until this morning."

"Why, so I could read about it in the paper? Gee, thanks a lot, friend." Kermit grumbled as he turned his back on Peter.

Peter approached him from behind cautiously, not wanting to incur his wrath once again. "Kermit, I did what I thought was best."

"Best for who? Me or you?"

"You. You may not like it, but you were in no shape to deal with this last night. Hell, you've had several hours of sleep and look how well you're handling it." Peter's words were harsh, trying to make the man see the reasoning behind the actions.

"I think you should leave, now." Kermit muttered, as he went to the coffeepot and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Can't. Captain wants you to stay home today and wants me to keep an eye on you."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I can keep an eye on myself and the Captain doesn't run my life." He turned away from his friend and left the kitchen. Peter followed, but Kermit returned to his bedroom and slammed the door, locking it behind him.

"This isn't going quite the way I planned, Pop," Peter muttered, as he returned to the kitchen to grab a needed cup of coffee.

End Part 14

Back to KFTLC Page