Captain Karen Simms looked in shock at the sheet of paper in front of her. "You're resigning?!"

"Yes," Kermit replied, his shades firmly in place. "It's time for me to move on. I've already cleaned out my desk and computer. I just had to drop off my letter of resignation and this before I left." He softly set his
badge on the desk and turned to leave.

"Kermit, wait," Simms called out. "Isn't there anything I can do to get you to stay? You're one of my best."

Kermit didn't turn to face his ex-captain. "No thanks." With that, he exited the office and made for the door.

He calmly walked toward his car, the disks containing his data in his suit jacket, which was casually slung over his arm to hide his gun. He stopped in front of his car and waited patiently for the man sitting on the hood to speak.

"So, you were going to leave without saying good-bye," Peter said with a glare.

"I thought it would be better that way. You obviously didn't," Kermit replied as he went to unlock the car door.

"No, I didn't. Why are you leaving?"

"It's time to," was Kermit's enigmatic response.

Peter jumped off the car hood and stood beside his friend. "*Why*?"

"Why is it important to you?" Kermit asked in reply, studying the younger man before turning to gently place his gun and suit jacket on the passenger's seat. "Never mind. I don't really want to know. It's just time for me to leave."

"To go back into the shadows, or to hunt them?"

A sharp intake of breathe was Peter's only reply.

"You're going to need back-up," Peter stated.

"It's been taken care of. Just go."

"Why did you resign? Why didn't you just go on vacation or take a leave of absence?" Peter asked, before adding, "Unless you think there's a good chance you aren't coming back."

"Could be. Could be that I'm just tired of a cop's life," Kermit replied flippantly as he opened the car door wider to get in.

Peter reached out and pushed the door shut. "You're not leaving until you answer my question. Why?"

Kermit stared at Peter for a moment before replying. "You already know. How, I don't want to think about, but you already know." Kermit stared a moment more before muttering "Fuck it. I may not get another chance." Grabbing the younger man by the shoulders, he pressed his lips to Peter's shocked ones and kissed for all he was worth.

After the initial moment of shock, Peter responded to the kiss by parting his lips and inviting Kermit's tongue in to play. Tongues slid against each other as the two explored and memorized the other's mouth. When it was impossible to continue the kiss any longer for lack of air, Kermit let Peter go and quickly got into his car. Still panting, he started the vehicle and drove off.

"You better come back Kermit. Just... come back," Peter said fiercely to the departing car.