"It's not a little scratch!" Nick exclaimed, nervously rubbing his chin with his hand. He moved slowly around Natalie, his eyes never leaving the Caddie. "It's more like five scratches, and there's a dent over there, in the rear panel," he added, pointing over her shoulder.

"Well, Knight, that's what you get for trying to be a hot shot. You could drive a city car like the rest of us, but no! You have to be Joe Cool!" Schanke added, shaking his head. "You're lucky, actually. Guy I knew was chasing down a prep, and wrapped his car right around a statue that was part of a visiting art show, right smack in the middle of metro-"

"Just - just," Nick said, waving his hand helplessly. "Your cousin, he still runs that garage, right?"

"Rudy? Yeah, sure. Hey, and would he love a nice city contract again. I bet he'd even throw in a whole new paint job," Schanke added enthusiastically.

"Hey, that's an idea, Nick," Nat said. "You could pick out a better color."

Nick turned from his scrutiny of the car. "What's wrong with the color?" he asked defensively. Natalie and Schanke exchanged glances and Schanke even made a slight face as he mouthed the words "puke green." Natalie turned her head away, smiling.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing!" Natalie said, shaking her head. "I just, you know, thought a change might be nice."

Nick took a moment or two to consider the idea before shaking his head. "No. No. This is her color. It would be wrong to change it.

"Nick!" Natalie exclaimed. "It's a car!"

"An aqua car," Nick corrected. He walked over to the Caddie and bent down, brushing his fingers over the scratches. "Do you think he can match this shade?" he asked, looking up at Schanke expectantly.

"There isn't a color made that Rudy can't match," Schanke said confidently.

"Oh, by the way Knight," Schanke said, pushing his desk chair back. "Rudy called. He said he'd drop the Caddie off in a bit. Definitely be there when you get off shift. He says you're such a special customer that he'll make the exception. He loves that car of yours." He leaned back nonchalantly and glanced up at Natalie who was perched on the edge of Nick's desk.

Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "It's about time. Every crackhead in town's made the sedan I've been driving."

"The bottle-thrower you arrested on your way to work?" Schanke asked. Nick merely nodded.

Just then the door to Cohen's office swung open. "Knight!" she called.

Once Nick was gone, Schanke shifted forward. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. "You're going to blow it!"

"Oh right!" Natalie said. "Like I'm gonna miss the expression on his face!"

Schanke grinned evilly. "Word's been spreading. Come dawn, half the guys are gonna be out in the parking lot waiting for the sideshow! Man, oh man, I can hardly wait! What time is it?"

Natalie glanced at her watch. "He's off in 45 minutes. I've gotta kill some time," she said suddenly. "I'll be over talking to Norma." She gathered her purse and coat.

When Nick finally emerged from Cohen's office half an hour later, he carefully closed the door behind him and walked purposefully over to his desk.

"I told you, man," Schanke said, shaking his head. "She gets a bee in her bonnet about these reports, and what are you gonna do? Used up a whole bottle of white out correcting them. See, look, I still have some of it on my hands," he said holding the top of his right hand out. "Not to mention the little spots on my tie-"

"Schanke!" Nick said, dropping the papers he was holding and looking up at him.

"What?"

"You're babbling."

"I am?"

"Yes."

He shrugged and gave Nick a lopsided grin. "Sorry. Just trying to kill time, you know. Shift's almost over. No point in really starting anything now - Hey, Rudy!" Schanke said loudly, looking up and past Nick.

Nick turned and saw Rudy Schanke walking toward him, car keys in one hand. "Hey Donnie! Hi, Nick!" he greeted them. Rudy Schanke looked like a younger, thinner Don Schanke with a full head of hair although the two men were about the same age. He shook hands with the two men then handed Nick the car keys with a flourish.

"Shes' out in the parking lot," he said.

Nick grinned at him, tossing the keys in the air. "Perfect timing. My shift is just ending. He moved past him. "I'm just going to check it out," he said.

"Hey, be my guest. Can't take any chances with a classic like that," Rudy said, falling into step behind him. Schanke looked around at the now almost deserted squad room as people had discretely exited the building as soon as they'd seen Rudy pull up on the monitors.

"But, you know, Knight," Rudy said shaking his head. "I had a little trouble getting just the right shade."

Nick stopped dead in his tracks. "But you did get it?" he asked.

"Oh sure, sure. Just took a bit of doing. It's a . . . sort of specialty color, you know. Not a lot of call for it, but hey, if you know where to look..."

Nick grinned. "I knew I could count on you Rudy," he said, pushing the door to the parking lot open. Dawn was about half an hour away but the parking lot was well lit. Nick didn't notice all the people milling about as his eyes swept over the parking lot looking for the distinctive shape and color of his Caddie. He spotted Schanke's car, and Nat's car, and Cohen's car parked right in front.

And right next to it was . . .

Nick stopped dead in his tracks again. He heard Schanke chuckling behind him, and the sounds of laughter from around him. Natalie was nearly doubled over in hysterics. Against his will, his mind registered that those were indeed his license plates on the car.

Schanke walked around him, still laughing and donning a pair of sunglasses. He leaned casually against the hood of the car. "Surprise, partner! The Boss sang about one. As did Our Lady of Soul, Aretha! Hell, Clint Eastwood even drove Bernadette Peters around in one! It's hip, it's rocking! It's-"

"Pink!" Nick managed to gasp out. This was followed by an inarticulate, choking sound. "It's a pink Cadillac." He whirled. Rudy had been wise enough to move several feet away. "You painted my Caddie pink!" he asked, horrified. Rudy shrugged and grinned.

Nick was about to take a step toward Rudy. To do what, he wasn't sure, but he had to do something. But before he could move Schanke pushing himself away from the car and clapped Nick on the shoulder. "Relax!" he said, still grinning. He turned and nodded to several uniforms standing over near the corner of the building. "Your precious Nick-mobile is safe and sound and still that awful color," he said as the men returned, rolling Nick's car from behind the building where it had been hidden. "Ruby's had this thing lying around for years. It doesn't even run, but we did a quick paint job just for the occasion." Nick was immobile, his expression bewildered. "We switched the plates, that's all! Joke's on you, partner! You should see your face!"

At that moment, Coven stormed out of the building. Hands on hips she surveyed the crowd. "What are we running here?" she demanded. But then the corners of her mouth quirked into a small smile as she took in the pink Caddie, the aqua Caddie and Nick and Schanke and nearly everyone else standing around with silly grins on their faces. "A police station or an auto show? Back to work!" she added, before returning inside.

"What?" Natalie demanded. "You've been grinning like a Cheshire cat since we got back." They were sitting in Nick's loft side by side on the leather couch.

He looked up at her. "Were you in on that?" he asked.

"Ah, my lawyer advised m not to say anything that might incriminate me," she said with a laugh. "Actually, Schanke ran the idea by me to see what I thought."

"And how I'd take it?"

"Basically," Natalie added, with a nod. "I told him not to drag it on too long."

Nick gave a small laugh, and looked down at his hands. Natalie tilted her head and looked at him thoughtfully. "What?" she asked again.

"It's . . . it's just, well, a little silly, maybe?"

"Silly is good, especially at this time of the morning."

Nick looked at her quickly, still smiling. "You know, these sort of pranks go on all the time. They get pretty elaborate at times. It's sort of, I don't know, the social make-up of the place, how people get along and relieve stress, or something." Nick looked away. "I never really felt part of that," he added quietly. Then he looked back at her and took her hand. "Until this morning," he said, with another small laugh. "It was just a practical joke," he said, trying to dismiss it.

"But it made you feel like you belong," Natalie said, meeting his gaze and squeezing his hand.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, it did."

Natalie smiled gently at him, then impulsively leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. There's nothing silly about that, Nick. Nothing silly at all."