Episode tag for Out of Bounds (1x06).

In Out of Bounds we get a brief look at Chief Taylor leaving a voice message for his son. This short little oneshot is a possible scenario for what may have happened when Taylor got home.

I should also mention that I did my own beta'ing again, and I tend to miss glaring errors when that happens. I apologize in advance.

Anxieties and Worries

He kept the lights flashing and the siren screeching from the moment he left the PAB garage until he turned onto his street. Then he turned the siren off. The noise wasn't doing anything to calm the anxiety that- while no longer growing- was sitting heavily on his chest. The flashing lights he kept on until he pulled into his driveway. Mostly, because he'd forgotten to turn them off when he turned off the siren.

He was pulling the key from the ignition before the car realized it had been turned off. The dampness that had formed between his skin and the steering wheel made his grip on the door handle slip as the door was opening, causing it to stick closed even as he pushed against it with his arm.

"Damn it," he tried again with more successful results.

From the driver's side of his parked car- occupying its usual spot in the driveway- to his front door was normally about ten steps. Russell made it to his door in six today. He took a deep breath as he found the key to unlock the door. He knew his son was fine. He'd watched the cameras in electronics, but even as they saw Amy's face being pummeled he'd been thinking how easily it could have been his boy in that position. Okay, okay, fine, maybe not "easily." But knowing the unlikely hood of it happening didn't stop the idea that it could have happened. Or one day might happen.

It was those thoughts- those images that kept flashing across his mind- that had him taking a late lunch, so he could hurry home and see his youngest son with his own eyes. It didn't help that his son didn't text or call him back for almost an hour after Det. Sykes had been rushed to the hospital. He'd almost laughed out loud when he read the text message. "You can't take my phone! I was in class!"

He managed to open the door, eventually. The relief he felt stepping over the threshold was welcomed, but not complete. He closed the door before the cat could make an escape, and barely registered his wife's questioning look as he hurried down the hall towards his son's room.

He opened the door.

"Dad! Do you just not know how to knock?" Brown eyes glared up at him from the floor where his son was sitting playing Nintendo or Xbox or… something, and for half a second he was reminded of the little boy who used to glare at him like that for making him take a bath. One side of his mouth twitched upwards in a smile, and the relief that had begun to take root when he stepped over the threshold finally felt complete. The pressure on his chest lifted, and for the first time in hours it felt like his lungs were completely filling with air when he breathed.

"You know, I think they taught me that in the police academy. But it wasn't something I ever truly mastered." He grinned, as brown eyes rolled at him before turning back to the game, and before he could say more he felt a hand on his arm. His eyes met his wife's eyes.

"You okay?" She asked, looking between him and their son.

"Uh…yeah, yeah," His hand settled, instinctively, on his wife's lower back. "I'm fine. Everything's good."

She was clearly unconvinced. Her eyes narrowed, slightly, but she turned to their son instead. "Aren't you supposed to be doing homework?"

"I did." The boy was lost in his game.

"All of it?" His mother questioned, again.

"Yes." He drawled the word out, but his eyes remained fixed on the TV screen. "You guys know I'm in High School, right? You don't have to check on me all the time."

Actually, Taylor thought, that's the very reason why we have to check on you. His hand moved up his wife's back, sliding softly and evenly over her oversized cotton shirt, from the curve in her lower spine to her shoulder. He pulled her close.

"I'm going to make you something to eat, now, you can warm it up tonight when you get hungry." His wife informed their son, and leaned forward to grasp the doorknob. She didn't wait for a reply before pulling it closed.

Russell was led back down the hall towards the living room.

"Does this have anything to do with why he came home upset about you taking his phone away?" The woman Russell had spent most of his adult life with asked. "Especially, after telling him just last week we'd take it away if he kept using it during class?"

"Uhh…" he chuckled, running a hand down his face. "Yeah, yeah…I was just…something almost happened at the school today."

He suddenly stopped moving and the warmth that had been pressed into his side disappeared. His wife turned to face him. "What almost happened?"

He shook his head. "Everything is fine now. It is. Nothing happened, and nothing will. I have to get back. I probably won't be home until late."

"Uh huh,… come make yourself a sandwich first." She seemed to concede, but Russell had been married long enough to know the reprieve wouldn't last. He would be telling her everything, but not until it was over. "Or at least take something back with you for later."

"I need to get back," he shook his head. "I have an officer in the hospital."

"What!" It wasn't a question as much as it was a demand.

Oops.

"She's doing fine!" Taylor hoped that was the case, but he needed to defuse this conversation quickly. "It was minor, really."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't do that! Cops don't go to the hospital for serious things! Let alone minor ones." She crossed her arms, "they usually only go if they're passed out, in the middle of the street, and someone else calls an ambulance. Then they wake up in the ambulance, and demand to be taken back to the crime scene. And get angry when their partner tells their wife they're in the hospital."

She was never going to let him forget that incident.

He stepped closer to her, and his arms lifted so his hands could rest on her shoulders. He massaged gently. "I'm sorry."

She leaned in towards him and he lowered his head so their foreheads touched. Their noses grazed one another, and he could feel her breath against his lips.

"I'll tell you everything when I get home. When it's all over. I promise."

He could feel her taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. Her nose nuzzled against his before her lips pressed against his own. It wasn't a quick kiss, nor a passionate one. She stepped back. "Whatever happened to me worrying less when you got a bigger office?"

He chuckled. "I should be home tonight. We caught the guy, it's just paperwork and stuff now."

"Hmm…" she wrapped an arm around his waist as they made their way to the door. "That should give you plenty of time to think up a good way to tell me what a cop ending up in the hospital has to do with you speeding your way home -with lights and sirens- just to see our son."

He nodded thoughtfully, "yes, yes, I think, it should."

She smiled, chuckling quietly, as she opened the door for him.

He grinned as he stepped passed her. "Love you."

"I love you, too." She replied.

The cat's tail brushed against his leg as it escaped through the open door.

By now, I'm sure you've noticed that I never name Taylor's wife or son. That was intentional, and I hope it didn't make the story awkward. I just dislike naming characters. Especially, when there's a possibility the character will be named in the show at some point.

What are your thoughts? And for those who read the Cathy Tao stories I wrote recently, how do you think the relationships (Cathy/Mike vs Russell/wife) compare?