"All of our men have gone off to apprehend the suspect-

"Chief, I don't mean to interrupt, but they are chasing the wrong guy! I'm sure of it! And if we don't act now, we will have another body on our hands tomorrow!" Haruki snapped.

Luhan stood nibbling his fingernail as he watched the showdown between Chief Park and Haruki. Both were glaring at the other, unwilling to back down until the tension started to make him squirm...

Leeteuk blinked first and set aside the file to look at the one Haruki had slapped down on the desk. "What makes you think it's this guy?"

Haruki went off into an explanation, pointing out things in the file that they had missed from earlier. The suspect, whose mother-in-law had such a remote-controlled pacemaker, had cut off all ties with him when his wife died. But he'd left out the part where he'd been worming himself back into the household for the past year, as well as the part where he'd insured her for double the initial amount. Furthermore, hacking into the pacemaker was much less complicated than they had initially believed, requiring no more than a cellphone app.

All of which was very interesting, but Luhan thought it was too late. Leeteuk would never let Haruki go off on her own and by the time the others got back, it would be too late.

Sure enough, Leeteuk picked up the phone. "I'm calling them and letting them know the new location-"

"We don't have time for this!" Haruki argued. "He is having dinner with his mother-in-law right now. All he needs to do is stand outside the house and turn off the damn thing with his phone!"

"I'm not letting you go without back-up," snapped Chief Park.

"I have back-up," Haruki retorted and her eyes went over to Luhan, who stared, finger dropping from his gaping mouth.

"M-me?"

"Luhan's never been in a situation like this before-" Leeteuk argued.

"Then there's no better time for him to gain some field experience." She looked over him once and nodded. "Let's go."
Luhan was never quite sure how he made it to the car with his legs feeling like jelly and the pounding of his heart drowning all other sounds. He took the gun Haruki handed him without a word, his fingers barely feeling them. She was giving him instructions as she drove, but he didn't hear a word of it as he dumbly nodded along.

Any moment now, he thought, he would wake up at home, in bed.

There was a car parked outside the intended victim's house and Haruki swore under her breath as she jammed on the brakes. "Stay here for a moment," she instructed as she got out. Luhan watched her run up to the windows and look in as if it were all in a dream. Presently, she was beckoning to him. Luhan fumbled with the car door and tripped as he headed towards her. "We're in luck," she whispered. "They're still in there, eating. You go in the back door and follow my signal, alright?" He nodded. quirked into a reluctant smile. "Don't get killed." He nodded breathlessly and she gave him a little push towards the back of the house. 

He headed towards the sliding door leading in from the porch, which had been opened wide to let in the cool evening breeze. His leaden fingers tugged the screen door open as quietly as he could, but even so, it banged against the door, the sound like a gunshot to his ears. He winced, but there was no response from inside the house, not that he would have noticed if there were. Cautiously, he entered.

Then came the sounds that nightmares were made out of- breaking glass, a woman screaming, a man swearing. He ran blindly towards the chaos, the gun in his hand shaking so badly he was almost afraid it would go off by accident. 

He peered into the dining room. The scene was as Haruki had predicted: The suspect, a cellphone in his hand which he was pressing tightly against the old woman's mouth to muffle her screams. In the other hand, he held a knife. Haruki, standing across the room, both hands wrapped around a gun.

"It's over," she snapped, moving towards him, but the suspect took a step back, pulling his victim with him.

"Don't come any closer!" he yelled. "I'll do it, I swear."

He saw Haruki hesitate, saw the old woman wince as the knife pressed tighter. Then Haruki looked down, slowly lowering the gun in her hands. The suspect shoved the old woman to the ground and raced straight for the back door.
The movements were almost mechanical, after practicing them for so many months. It was like watching himself in a movie. Calmly, his hands as steady as his line of fire was clear, Luhan dropped to one knee and pulled the trigger.

 Red and blue flashing lights lit up the street as cops swarmed in and out of the house. He saw Chief Park barking out orders and Haruki talking to the paramedics who were taking the suspect away on a stretcher. She bent over the stretcher and said something to the man which made him turn his head. 

Luhan looked over at the old woman, who was being comforted by an awkward Donghae. Yuri examining the incriminating phone and nodding in satisfaction, slipping it into a plastic evidence bag.

"Hey." Luhan jumped, not realizing that Haruki had appeared beside him. "You doing okay?"

He nodded. "How did you know he'd run?"

"I figured he was the type," she replied. "He thought he was so clever because he'd gotten away with murder before. I knew barging in like that would make him panic. Some people can't keep their cool under pressure." She smiled at him.
"I...that was surreal," Luhan murmured. "I feel like I'm just waking up from a dream. I just...I can't believe it's real." He took a shaky breath. "I-I was scared."

"You did great," she said, squeezing his shoulder slightly.

"Thank you," he said suddenly.

Her eyebrows rose. "For what?"

"Believing in me." He bit his lip, feeling stupid and unable to meet her eyes. "I've been dreaming of this moment for so long that I..." He trailed off, afraid that if he kept talking, he might do something stupid, like cry.

Haruki grinned. "Anytime, partner."