Trouper walked into the room, holding a folder in his hands.  The stink and gunk of the mission was still on him as he sat down in a hard metal chair.  Turning the suspect's nose up as he tried his best to avoid the foul smell.  It had barely been an hour since they scooped him up; no time to clean up. 

He looked down at the document before looking back up at the suspect.  His eyes cold and hard.  No sympathy.  He wasn't the kind of guy to milk a situation. He was more of a 'rip the band-aid off' kind of person.  Which worked well in this kind of work.  "Now how about you tell me about your involvement with 'cloud nine.'" He asked sternly, pulling a photo out of the folder and placing it on the table.

The man looked down for a second at the hot pink mixture; frozen in time.  It was the product found in his bag.  His handcuffs clanked as he rested his hands back on the tabletop.  He didn't seem the least bit concerned.  His lips pursed as he stared down the agent, he wasn't going to say anything.  

Jacob looked in through the glass with folded arms.  They needed the man to talk.  He was the only lead they had, and so they had gathered all the information they could on him.  Even being so lucky as finding his name.  Something that the suspect had tried so hard to keep secret.  

Trouper sighed as he stroked his beard; flakes of dirt floating down onto the table.  "Listen Mr. Watson.  Is it fine if I call you Watson?" He asked.  The man still didn't say anything.  "Or maybe you would prefer Gary Crisp?" He suggested, before pulling out another photo and placing it on the table.  It was a photo of Gary with a smiling woman.    

This made Gary's eyebrows narrow angrily, he looked over at Trouper with disdain in his eyes.  "Don't bring her into this." He said.

Trouper clasped his hands and looked at him.  "I guess that depends on how well you cooperate."  He tapped the photo of the pink concoction again.  "Now, what is your relationship with cloud nine?" He asked again.

The man sat up in the chair and cocked his head at him.  "I'm a distributor." He stated.

"For how long?"

"3 years."

Trouper gave him a calculating look.  They had only known about the drug for the past six-months, and only because someone tipped them off.  It wasn't surprising to him that this drug had gone undetected for so long.  They still hardly knew anything about it.  All that they knew was that when someone ingested it their hormones elevated and it usually lead to some misdemeanors.   

Normally this type of thing wouldn't have raised a flag for them.  They would have simply handed off the assignment to a local police force.  But the note that came with was more than concerning.  It was foreboding.

Trouper nodded.  "Can you give us the names of the people you work with?"

This time Gary wasn't so quick to answer the question.  His mouth was trapped again, shut like a safe.  He wasn't going to rat any one else out if he could help it.  Doing so would only put the person he cared about in danger, and he couldn't have that.  He would rather be hated then risk her life.  He shook his head.  

"We can protect you two, but you have to give us some names." Trouper said.

The man shook his head again, rolling his jacket's sleeves up a little, struggling just a little.  "No offense, but I don't trust that you can." He stated, the skin of his left forearm showing slightly.  But just enough for Jacob to see the tattoo decorating it.  Giving an uncanny resemblance to one he had seen in the past, making his blood burn at the thought.  At the embarrassment.

"How do you think this is going to end for you." Trouper said calmly.  "That you're going to walk out of here, grab your girlfriend and disappear.  Or maybe you think that they are going to welcome you back with open arms." He said as his hands reached out to either end of the room, before they came crashing back to the table.  "You would have to be stupid to think that either of these plans would work."

Gary cocked his head at Trouper.  "No, stupid would be believing that I make it out of this alive.  I was dead as soon as you picked me up."

Jacob's embarrassment transformed into a seething anger; unable to stop his rash thinking and his moving feet.

"Maybe that is the case Mr. Crisp, but you can still protect her." Trouper said pointing down at the woman in the photo.

Jacob got closer and closer to the door.

Gary looked down, his heart aching at the sight of her smile; knowing that he might not see it again.  He looked back up, his tone soft and serious.  "This is how I protect her."

Jacob's arms pushed the interrogation room open.  He could see Gary's eyes widen in surprise as he made his way over to him, and he could hear Trouper angrily call out to him.  But he didn't care.  He couldn't really hear him anyway.  "You can't really believe that." He said angrily, grabbing at the neck of his jacket and pulling him slightly out of his chair.  

"What?"

"If there is any chance that you're working with Uriah Rea then you should know that her promises are empty." He yelled.  The man's eyes widened a bit and his mouth gaped open.  But before anything else could happen, Trouper grabbed his shoulders and pulled him off Gary.  Pulling Jacob out of his own head, and bringing his awareness back to the rest of the room.  He wriggled out of Trouper's grip and breathed out an apology before storming out of the room.  Trouper following close behind with an intense stare.  "That was out of line." He said, having to refrain himself from shouting.

Jacob turned around and stared him down.  "I'm sorry." He said simply, like it would excuse him for what happened in the room.  But it wouldn't, not for Trouper.

"You're sorry." He said in disbelief.  "You interrupted my interrogation and all I get is sorry." He stated in disbelief, folding his arms.

"What do you want from me?" Jacob asked, matching his position.  He really didn't like to be the one in the hot seat, but he knew that there was no way that he was getting out of this, and it was only a matter of time for the truth to come out.

"How about, what makes you think that he's working with Uriah Rea?" He questioned.

"He had a similar tattoo." Saying it like it made perfect sense.  

Trouper could almost feel himself roll his eyes.  "That's just a coincidence, and similar is not enough evidence to connect that the two of them are working together." He said.

Jacob could almost feel himself laugh in disbelief.  Sure a lot of people could have similar tattoos.  But he could feel it in his bones that it wasn't just a coincidence.  It was a connection to her.  He narrowed his brows and looked at him.  "You don't have to believe me.  You just have to trust me."

Trouper sighed.  "I have trusted you.  Time and time again." He walked over to him and rested his arm on his shoulder.  "But this isn't healthy."

Jacob could see the worry in his eyes; the same look he gave him a few years ago.  

"So, for your own good." He took a deep breath.  "You're going to take a break from the case and from the agency."

Jacob's eyes widened.  "For how long?" He asked, mouth dropping down.  

Trouper shrugged.  "Don't know." He paused.  "When I feel like you can handle it."

Jacob started to shake his head.  This wasn't happening.  He wasn't just going to roll over when they could have another connection, another lead to her.  "No, I want to stay." He said firmly.

"I know.  But you can't help like this.  I need calm and collected, and you're not either of those right now.  So, for the time being, I want you to take a break." He said.  "I also suggest that you talk to someone about how you're feeling, but I don't think you're going to do that unless I show a little tough love." He said.

"I see." Jacob said, shaking his grip off his shoulders again before heading towards the exit of the room.

"Hold it." Trouper demanded softly.  "Leave your gun."

Jacob turned around and pulled his pistol out of it's holster.  He placed it in Trouper's extended hand before exiting the room.  He walked down the hall, collected his stuff, and got in his car.  Trouper was truly mistaken if he thought he was going to drop this case and relax.  No, he was going to be the one to solve it, and he was going to do it all by himself if he had to.