Peter, Paul and U

by Angela B

Note: Just silly drabble. Only had one student for the day and for the third weekend out of the last four its snowing.

Warnings: I betaed this myself

Disclaimer: Not mine, ever


The area that was claimed by Team Seven was unusually silent. The series of snowstorms that had slammed Denver in recent weeks had not only slowed down the traffic in the city, but crime in general. The bored team had done everything they could do to keep busy. They had caught up on all their paperwork, looked into old cases, and harassed everyone they could until it was no long fun. So six men sat out in the bullpen quiet. Some read, some played games on the computer and some did personal things. Anything to keep from going stir-crazy.

Out of the blue, JD suddenly asked, "Why did "U" have to steal from Peter?"

Five heads came to attention with a confused look on the faces.

"I beg your pardon?" Buck gasped, glaring at JD as if he had grown an extra head, while garnering stares from the rest of the guys.

"Who know the saying ..."You have to Rob Peter do pay Paul?" I am just asking why did U have to steal from Peter?" JD explained himself.

Ezra stood up from his desk. "Excellent question, Mr. Dunne,” he said, figuring anything was better that staring at the same line in his book like he had been doing for the last fifteen minutes. . “And, furthermore, why didn't Peter report the stolen money?"

Vin caught on to the conversation. "Yeah, I see where this is going? What kind of person is U?" Why is he stealing?"

"And who is Paul?" Nathan asked, joining in.

"Perhaps a loan shark?" Josiah theorized.

“A gunrunner,” Nathan answered back.

“A drug dealer,” Vin added.

"How much was "U" into him for?" Nathan asked suspiciously.

“I still want to know why Peter wouldn't report the stolen money." Ezra asked, growing serious. "Just why wouldn't a person report such a thing?"

"Maybe he is into something illegal and having to report the stolen money would bring an investigation, he wouldn’t want," Vin answered.

"Or maybe, U has something on Peter. Perhaps blackmail would keep Peter from reporting it," Buck questioned.

"And why is U owing money to Peter," Nathan asked again.

"What happened to cause a man to steal from one friend to pay another," JD asked.

"Who said they were friends," Ezra questioned suspiciously.

"Ezra's right. We don’t know how the men know each other. They didn’t necessarily have to be friends," Josiah analyzed.

"So Paul could be a loan shark, but maybe he's a gunrunner?" Vin said.

“Or a drug runner,” reminded Nathan

"Maybe, he was just a person who lent U some money and needed to be paid back? JD said defensively. He didn’t believe everyone was a crook or doing something illegal.

"Maybe," Vin said slowly, sounding very unsure of that theory.

"That doesn’t explain why U would steal from Peter?" Nathan stated.

"Yeah, why didn’t U just ask Peter for the money? Why steal it?" Buck asked.

"And why does U need so much money? Obviously he has already borrowed from Paul, or he wouldn’t need the money from Peter to begin with," Josiah pondered.

"Maybe he has a gambling problem," Ezra said with a serious frown on his face.

"Or a bad habit," Buck added, "Could explain the need to steal."

"Perhaps, he pawned off something of value and he doesn’t want Peter to know he was in such debt, so the only way to get back his pawned stuff was to steal the money," JD speculated.

"So now Pau is the owner of a pawn shop," Buck asked in confusion. He was unsure how Paul went from being a gunrunner to a pawnshop owner. Buck brightened up. "Unless Paul is a pawn shop owner who sells illegal weapons out the back door.

"Why would he need to sell illegal weapons, he runs a clean store," JD said defensively.

"Let’s get back to Peter," Josiah said. "Why is U choosing to steal from him? Does U know him or is he a stranger. And like Ezra asked, Why hasn't he reported the incident?"

"I still say that Peter has to be doing something fishy that he doesn’t want the IRS know about," Ezra restated firmly.

"Well..." Vin said unsurely. “You're right that there is a reason not to involve the police. I just not sure is has to be illegal."

Ezra started back to his desk with conviction. He knew there had to be a logical reason for the man not to report his money being stolen. He certainly would have. No matter who stole it.

"I say he is a victim," Vin stated firmly, walking back his own desk.

“I would like to find this MR. U and see what kind of mess he has created in borrowing and stealing to keep himself afloat," Josiah said.

"I’ll help you," Nathan volunteered, following Josiah back to their desks.

"You know, JD, I bet Peter has to have a business license or a criminal record if he is into loaning people money on the side," Buck said with a smile.

"I'll check past criminal references," JD volunteered.

Soon the six men were at their desks busy.

Chris paused in his work and looked out his office window into where his men were busily hunched over working. Chris paused and reluctantly got out of his desk. That much silence and work had him puzzled and a bit nervous.

"What's going on?" Chris asked, cautiously, standing in his doorway looking out at his men.

"Getting a wiretap, for Paul‘s home and business," answered Vin.

"I am checking into Paul's past IRS statements to see what pops," Ezra added, without looking up.

"Josiah and I are trying to locate U, so we can issue an arrest warrant for the man," Nathan said busily.

"JD and I are running a background check on Paul, Buck added.

Chris closed his eyes and wondered if he should ask the inevitable. Slowly opening he eyes, he mentally braced himself and asked simply, "Peter, Paul and U?"

"Who know, Chris, to see why U robbed Peter to pay Paul," explained Buck, like Chris should have known that answer.

Chris gripped his lips together and closed his eyes. He knew he shouldn’t have asked.

"Carry on," he simply ordered. At least if his men were occupied they weren’t bothering anybody else in the building. He had already fielded more complaints about his people in the last couple of days to last a lifetime.

Walking back to his desk, Chris hoped the skies would clear up soon.

Sitting back down at his desk, Chris went b back to his own speculation. Why hadn’t Jill simply called the EMS instead of tumbling after Jack.

The End

Comments: Angela