Usual disclaimers.

The sound of an old Rick Astley tune was blaring out of the speakers in the Campbell Trio's offices when Reid made his way out of the old freight elevator. Oliver was sitting at his desk, absently moving his head in time with the rhythm while Kyle had his hands firmly on the shrieking speaker next to him.

"What's this?" the profiler shouted. He was barely able to hear the sound of his own voice.

Oliver blinked once, his thoughts dislodged from their track. "Music appreciation," he called back, and he showed Reid the setup. "Yeah, it's a little loud, but Kyle can't hear it unless our ears are bleeding. He's getting the bass rhythm from the song—it vibrates more, giving him something to work from."

"Physics in action."

"Precisely." Across the room, Kyle had his eyes closed too, his total concentration focused on getting the rhythm of the song right.

--I'm beginning to understand why you guys like this stuff,-- he signed, his shoulder now pressed against the speaker. –It's kind of soothing, almost.—

--"It's also poetry,"—Oliver said, gently tapping Kyle out of his trance. –"Put the words of the song with the rhythm, and it's a story you can't get out of your head."—

--And now I'm all confused again.—

--"That's okay. Shall we?"— The older investigator motioned to the card table that had been set up, five dice gleaming in the harsh light the office provided.

--Good thing I got everything beforehand,-- Kyle grinned, motioning to Chase's desk. It was laden with large sandwiches and enough Coke and coffee to drown a goldfish. –No more surprises, huh?—

--Yes,-- Reid signed emphatically. –"No more surprises."—

Kyle gave him the thumbs-up sign. –Your sign's getting better.—

A mischievous look crossed the younger man's face. –"Hmm,"—he murmured. –"I wonder why?"—

--Has nothing to do with the intense study you get coming here for cards and dice when you're in town,-- Kyle said, shaking his head in mock-seriousness. –Nothing at all.—

--"Speaking of, how's work been?"—Oliver asked. –"I mean, it's been a month since you went back…"—

"Had to catch a killing team over in Spokane," Reid said, letting Oliver sign for him. "One lured the victims into the woods while the other actually did the killing."

--"Compliant submissive or coerced prisoner?"—Oliver asked. –"The partner who did the luring, I mean."—

"Oh, she was the dominant. She liked to watch as her male partner actually killed the victims." Reid's face told both investigators that the concept wasn't farfetched to him at all but not a pleasant one to think about.

--"It's been boring here,"— Oliver said. –"Last week we took care of some petty thefts from the chem. lab over at the college. Some enterprising student thought it would be cool to build explosives as a class project."—

"Legal ones or…?"

--He wanted to blow up a small wooden box in the courtyard. He ended up making fireworks on accident.—

The look on Reid's face said it all. –Ouch,-- he signed.

--"No kidding. Then he got slapped with a huge fine and he's up on a misdemeanor charge at the least. I swear, these kids today…"-- Oliver penciled in the score sheet and picked up the dice. –Who's going first?—

--Roll for it,-- Kyle said, signing between bites of a grilled chicken sandwich.

"That's it on your end? Fireworks?"

--"Well, we haven't had much work. I'm hoping Josh asks us for a consult soon or someone has a suspicious fire or something to investigate."—

Reid's eyes grew wide. –"Investigate? I thought you had the sheriff's department…"—

--Not anymore,-- Kyle signed, looking triumphant. –We voted in a new bylaw of the town last year. Says that both the campus police and us here in the office are the legal enforcement authority here, up to thirty miles out from campus.--

--"It's a huge help, seeing as that arrogant prick sheriff never cared much if the victim or complainant was a deaf person or someone from the college,"— Oliver added. –"I've lived here now going on four years, and I've never seen them come out for anything of any importance."—

"Hey, I worked the Lavinia murders a few years ago," Reid told Oliver. "They didn't show up then, either."

--Like I said,-- Kyle said, tossing he dice and beginning to count points. –Not useful for anything. Good riddance.—

--"Huge responsibility, though,"— Reid pointed out as he took a turn. "You split it with campus police because…"

--"Because there's times we have to leave town on business,"—Oliver explained. –"You know, when we're helping you or any number of our professional or personal friends and colleagues."-- He tossed the dice and quickly moved them on, not gaining enough points to keep rolling.

"Is the system working?"

--People are happier now that they know someone will come when there's a call, and that they can talk to the investigating officer,-- Kyle replied. –I mean, they just called us or campus police anyway…now it's a guarantee that we'll be able to wield a more 'legitimate' authority instead of Chase going head-to-head with that rat bastard south of us.—

The three friends continued playing dice well into the night. The food slowly vanished, and the remnants of empty Coke bottles and stained coffee cups lingered as the last roll was placed and the final points were tallied.

--Reid wins again!—Kyle signed, dropping his pen in exasperation. –Seriously, how do you do it?—

The profiler just smiled as he collected his winnings. –Magic,-- he signed back, slightly proud that he'd managed to learn that one.

--You loaded the dice.—

--I did not. I got lucky.—

Yes, Oliver thought. We all certainly did. His mind wandered back to a similar night some months before that had not gone as well. We were lucky, he decided. On so many levels. I think we'll be all right now. Maybe not what we were before, but all right.

The thought made Oliver smile. "What are you thinking about?" Reid asked him as the pair walked back to Oliver's apartment. Though it was only three in the morning, Reid had decided to take up the offer of staying the night in Campbell before going back to D.C. in the morning. The town, oddly enough, had no established hotels of any kind, and room for the night was often found with friends or through the charity of the people in town.

"Oh, nothing."

"Come on. There's something going on in there."

Oliver smiled. "You got me. I was actually thinking on how lucky we are."

Reid paused a moment, his mind now doing a little soul-searching of its own. "Yeah," he said finally. "I guess we are. We see so much, experience so much through the course of our work, and yet we manage to cope and pull through."

"Plus we have help," Oliver reminded him. "Without that, what have we got?"

"Not much," Reid admitted. The two then let themselves into Oliver's apartment and settled in for the night. For the first time in months, neither one had black dreams or nightmares of any kind.

It was the soundest sleep either of them had had in a long while.