(BIG gulp!) my first attempt at fanfic, so please be gentle! the idea for this came last night watching One Good Man ... on TNT; at some point I looked at Dennis and thought he really doesn't look happy about doing all this, so naturally Dennis beat on my head and said why don't you tell my side of the story - so here it is.

DISCLAIMER - we all know the song, why don'tcha sing along with me... the name Mrs Jacobs for the lady in the elevator is mine; Dennis as super would have known her name so I had to give her one ;-)

SYNOPSIS - the events of the episode One Good Man, AKA Thank You Kindly Mr Capra from the point of view of the super of Fraser's building.

John Taylor stood in his high-rise, glass-walled ivory tower and watched as the tenants of 221 West Racine marched in a picket in the square below.

"Dennis, do you know the story of the three bears?"

"The three bears?"

"They went out picketing - left their homes unattended. Someone came along and shut off their heat - cut off their electricity - backed up their plumbing - changed all the locks."

"Goldilocks?"

"It's an analogy."

"Ah. It's -- cold out."

"Who would you rather be - Goldilocks, or one of the bears?"

I knew then what he meant, and frankly I wasn't crazy about it. But what else could I do? Hey, I need a roof over my head same as the next guy and if I didn't do it he'd just fire me and find someone who would. I mean, the Mountie had really done a good job gettin' the others to help him fix the place up, and he seemed pleased that Taylor liked what they'd done. So it wasn't that hard to give 'em all that rent increase notice. Sure, I knew none of em could pay $1000 a month, but hey that wasn't my problem, right? And Taylor was perfectly in line in givin' em those eviction notices after five days.... right? I just wish they hadn't all been in the Mountie's apartment at the time......

It didn't even bother me that much to cut off all the power, water, and gas. If they didn't have that, they'd move out, right? Sure I felt a little guilty, but I'm the super and it's my job to do what the owner says - it ain't illegal to make money on a building you own, after all.

But when he sent those - thugs - to "move in" I started wonderin' just what exactly was goin' on here. I mean, these people - Mr Mustafi, Mrs Garcia, Ms Krezjapalov and the rest - they never did nothin' to deserve this. They're just like the rest of us, doin' the best they can with what they got. But like I told Fraser, "This is all legal - Mr Taylor says everything happening here is legal." Huh. Legal don't make it right. An' then those goons started ta fight with Fraser, an' that lady reporter was all over the place takin' pictures - that's when Mrs Jacobs decided she'd had enough, and she took her little girl and they got in the elevator............ I swear as long as I live I will never forget their screams as they - as we all realized that the elevator cables had been cut. I swear I had nothin' to do with that! I mean, they coulda been killed! They woulda been killed if Fraser hadn't jumped in there and saved 'em both. Right there I decided that this had gone too far - forcing people to move out was one thing, killing them to get them out was something else entirely. And I wanted no part of it. But what could I do?

Taylor wanted me to bring him a list of the tenants in the building to the City Council meeting that night, for what I don't know, but when I was going through my files looking for it I came across a copy of the lease that Old Man Potter gave me when he made me super six years ago - and when I read it over, then I knew what I could do.

When I got to City Hall, there was Big Red yammerin' on about his grandmother or something. What she's got to do with this I got no idea, but I was kinda glad to see both him and Vecchio there. Vecchio was standing by Taylor, and Taylor saw me come in.

"Oh, good, you're here. Give the chairman the list of the tenants' names."

"I couldn't find it."

"What?"

"I looked through my files. All I could find was this."

Taylor moved to take it from me, but instead I handed it to Vecchio, who opened it and read it.

"It's a lease," he said.

If looks could kill I'd'a dropped where I stood.

"Potter gave it to me when he made me super. Ten years - no increase. It's got four years left to run."

That wise-ass Vecchio looked at me and said "Well, at least you'll have a roof over your head, Dennis."

"Y'know, Detective Vecchio, you could be just a little nicer. If I still got a roof over my head, then so does he," I said, nodding towards the Mountie, who was still droning on about God knows what. "And so does everyone who lives there. No one can tear down that building - unless I say so."

Vecchio smiled at me and said, "You're a good man, Dennis." Then he turned to the council chair, waving the lease like a flag, and said "Madame Chairperson, point of order - new evidence has come to light in this case regarding the tenants......"

I swear, if Vecchio hadn't been there I'd'a given that lease to the Council Chair myself.

Taylor kinda gave me this real snooty look - "You realize you're fired."

Yeah - like he can do anything to me now - "Mmm - stuff it in your ear - Goldilocks."

Boy, did it feel good to hear the Council Chair bang her gavel and say "City Council hereby suspends Mr Taylor's development plans until further notice. The eviction orders are revoked."

Maybe one man can make a difference after all.

F I N