"Rough couple weeks?"

Greg was a little quieter than usual that night, and Ed wasn't, no, he couldn't let it go unnoticed.

"Are you following me?" Greg glanced behind him, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"That can be arranged."

"Don't you have a wife to get home to?"

Eddie had to smile. "A wife who knows exactly who she's married to."

"Right…My shadow in a dark alley."

"When I have to be."

"Look, I'm fine. Go home."

Eddie continued behind him. "At least let me drive you home."

"I'm not helpless!" He turned back at his friend quickly and his decibel was a little louder than necessary.

Eddie put his hands up slightly. "Yeah, you sound fine."

He took in a labored breath. "I'm just…tired. I want to go home, take some pain killers and call it a night. Appreciate the concern."

He watched him start to walk away and jogged to catch up. "So is that a no on driving you home?"

Greg stopped walking. "Eddie…"

"Yeah, I know. You're fine. You didn't just get shot a week after almost getting blown up…but hey, that happens to all of us now and again. I'm sure you'll just shake it off like you do every other tragedy that comes your way."

"You practice that?"

"Nah, just came up with it now. How'd it sound?"

"Pretty good."

Eddie waited for more of a response.

"You want to see me slam some lockers? Maybe bust my fist through something?"

"Maybe."

Greg didn't smile. "Inches and seconds."

Silence.

"Bullet came inches from the back of my head. That bomb was seconds from detonating…we've seen plenty of people never get that lucky once, let alone twice."

"Just wasn't your time boss."

"That should help. But it doesn't."

Eddie examined his expression. "In there tonight…" He gestured towards the bar doors.

Greg picked up on it. "Crossed my mind for half a second. The smell of the scotch, the burning sensation down my throat, the numbing effect I knew it would have."

"What stopped ya?"

"Besides you probably shooting my other arm to stop me…I remembered something."

"What's that?"

"Second chances."

Eddie managed a small smile. "Some people never get 'em."

Greg mirrored the smile before gesturing towards the car. "Now drive me home shadow."

"On one condition."

"Yeah?"

"Try to not get killed this week. I'd hate to have to hire a new team leader…"

He gave a quick shrug of his shoulders. "I'll see what I can do."