Murray at Baker Street

[rabidsamfan]

I'd seen his ilk before -- the proud ones, too smart for their own good in some ways and damnfools in every other. They make poor officers and no wonder, since they can't respect a senior for the uniform, and they're too quick to see the men beneath them as figures on a ledger. But even the worst of 'em has a heart, much as it surprises them to learn it, and he wasn't the worst, no matter how much he might want to be. Hid his hurt with sharp-edged humor, and only took his turn watching over my charge when there was little chance of the patient waking and looking at him blank-eyed. He joked that being forgot was a cruel fate for a man who wanted fame, made light of his sorrow until he'd nearly convinced himself. But I know better.

It wasn't fame he missed but friendship.