Of Sleep and Justifiable Homicide, a time crisis series fanfic

This fic was inspired by elegant malice, who woke me up with a flood of messages at an ungodly hour.

Darkness. Warmth. Blissful oblivion.

…

*Bzzt*

What the heck?

Giorgio slowly became aware of a persistent buzzing noise cutting through the fog of sleep. Groaning, he squeezed his eyes shut more tightly, hoping he'd imagined it.

*Bzzt*

The Italian lay still for a minute, torn between the siren call of sleep and professional instinct. Biting back a curse, he blindly groped for his phone, finally grabbing it off his bedside table. Cracking an eye open, Giorgio squinted at the glowing screen.

7:05 am. 6 unread messages.

Rubbing his eyes, the irritated agent glared at the offending device.

This had better be really important.

Lying back down against his pillow, Giorgio unlocked his phone, expecting to see messages like "There's been an incident" or "We need you on duty today after all".

What greeted him was far worse.

Evan Bernard: Hey Giorgio.

Evan Bernard: Giorgio.

Evan Bernard: Hey.

Evan Bernard: Gi.

Evan Bernard: Gi!

Evan Bernard: Hey! Old man!

Giorgio blinked and stared at his phone. When the messages didn't change, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Forget it. It's far too early for me to be dealing with this.

Carelessly dropping the phone next to him on the mattress, Giorgio rolled over and closed his eyes, attempting to reclaim his earlier state of blissful ignorance.

*Bzzt*

Growling, he snatched up his phone.

Evan Bernard: Are you alive?

Why me?

Grumbling under his breath, Giorgio resigned himself to dealing with his errant partner.

Giorgio Bruno: What?

Evan Bernard: Good, you're alive!

Giorgio Bruno: What. Do. You. Want?

Evan Bernard: Alan, Wesley and I are gonna hang out and grab lunch together later. Want to join us?

Giorgio Bruno: And you couldn't wait for a more sensible hour to ask me?

Evan Bernard: Alan was gonna ask you when you woke up, but you'd probably sleep in till late afternoon if left to your own devices.

Giorgio sighed. He had nothing against Alan and Wesley, but the idea of spending the day in the comfort of his warm bed was far more appealing at the moment.

Giorgio Bruno: I'll pass, thanks.

He waited a minute, eyeing his phone warily. No response.

Peace and quiet at last.

Sinking into his bed, Giorgio snuggled deeper under the covers, letting the phone fall from his hand. His breathing deepened as he felt himself slowly drifting off…

*Bzzt*

You've got to be kidding me.

*Bzzt*

Scrubbing his face roughly, Giorgio fumbled for his phone, wondering whether it would be worth the effort required to get up, hunt Evan down and kill him.

Evan Bernard: Spoilsport.

Evan Bernard: It's been a while since we've hung out with the others.

Evan Bernard: Everyone misses you!

Evan Bernard: You should try to be more social sometimes.

Evan Bernard: Besides, it's not like you had any other plans.

I wonder whether killing Evan right now would be considered justifiable homicide.

Giorgio Bruno: I was SLEEPING. Hell, I'm trying to sleep right now!

Evan Bernard: Seriously?

Evan Bernard: I guess boring old folks like their beauty sleep.

Giorgio Bruno: We just got back from an assignment late last night. How the hell are you already awake?

Evan Bernard: I'm bored!

Giorgio Bruno: Provoking your sleeping partner into a homicidal rage is NOT an appropriate way to relieve boredom.

Evan Bernard: Geez, sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of bed.

Evan Bernard: Seriously, it's our first day off in ages. Are you really gonna waste the whole day sleeping?

Giorgio finally had enough. Gritting his teeth, he began to type.

There should be a law against morning people. Or excessive cheerfulness before noon.

Giorgio Bruno: I don't care what you're doing, or who you want to hang out with. All I want to do is sleep in on the one day I finally have some time to myself. It's bad enough having to be around you all the time on duty. The last thing I need is you pestering me on my day off. Keep this up, and you'll be looking for a new partner. Leave me alone and let me sleep.

With that, he viciously stabbed the "Send" button.

After a few minutes, a response finally arrived.

Evan Bernard: Right. I understand. I'm sorry for bothering you. Sleep well, Giorgio.

Tossing the phone in the general direction of his nightstand, Giorgio lay back down in bed, pulling the covers around him.

As he closed his eyes, he felt a twinge of guilt for snapping at Evan. Although he would never admit it out loud, Giorgio was rather fond of the younger agent. Evan's sunny demeanour was like a breath of fresh air, and Giorgio admired it even as he needled Evan for his annoyingly cheerful behaviour.

Sighing, Giorgio rolled over, willing sleep to overtake him.

A minute ticked by. Then another.

Giorgio opened his eyes, feeling annoyed with himself.

What the heck's wrong with me? Now that nobody's bugging me, I can't fall asleep.

…I'm sorry for bothering you. Sleep well, Giorgio.

Inadvertently, Evan's hurt expression came to mind. Giorgio had only seen that expression a few times, most recently when Evan accidentally collided with Robert in the hallway. The senior agent had chewed Evan out, telling him to act more professionally and less like a bumbling idiot.

Giorgio shook his head, telling himself to stop being stupid. Evan was an adult. He would get over it.

Hell, he probably doesn't really care what I think. We're just partners. It's not like we're close friends or anything. He has Alan and Wesley for that.

For some reason, he felt a pang of loneliness at that thought. Exhaling slowly, he closed his eyes again.

…Sleep well, Giorgio.

Giorgio. Not Gi.

Evan always called him Giorgio while they were on duty, but he usually preferred the more affectionate "Gi", which he had coined to annoy his grumpy partner. Giorgio found he didn't mind it as much as he pretended to. He was surprised to find himself hurt by Evan's deliberate omission of his nickname.

Alright enough! This is ridiculous. I wanted a day off to sleep, and that's what I'm going to do. Evan can have fun hanging out with Alan and Wesley for all I care. I've never cared about being overly social before, and I'm not going to start now.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Giorgio forced himself to ignore the maelstrom of thoughts swirling about his mind and relax. Eventually, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

9:30 am. VSSE rec room.

"So, did you invite him along?" Wesley raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Evan. Evan's usual grin was nowhere in sight. Instead, he looked remarkably like a kicked puppy.

"I tried. He got kinda mad at me for bothering him while he was sleeping. Told me to go away and leave him alone." Evan flinched slightly as he recalled Giorgio's angry message.

…It's bad enough having to be around you all the time on duty. The last thing I need is you pestering me on my day off.

A hand gently gripped his shoulder. "Hey. What did he really say?" Alan looked at the younger agent, noticing that he seemed more distraught than a simple rejection warranted.

"I told you, he said he wanted to sleep in today and to quit bugging him," Evan insisted.

Alan sighed. "Giorgio blows off our invitations to hang out all the time. You don't usually get this upset."

Evan hesitated for a moment, then quietly said, "He implied we weren't really friends, just partners assigned to work together in the field."

Wesley winced, then leaned over and hugged Evan. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry he said that to you."

Evan shook his head, trying to sound casual. "It's fine. I should have expected that. Giorgio likes keeping to himself, after all. He doesn't really hang out with anyone off duty."

"Still, it's his loss, not yours. If Giorgio wants to be a lonely grouch he's welcome to do so," Alan insisted. Evan shrugged, but the older agents saw the telltale glint of tears in his eyes as he turned away, trying to compose himself. Neither agent said anything.

There was a soft click as the rec room door swung open. The trio looked up in surprise.

Giorgio's hair was slightly mussed, his clothes somewhat rumpled. He rubbed his tired eyes, looking for all the world as though he had just rolled out of bed. At the same time, there was an indecisive, almost guilty look on his face as he stood awkwardly in the doorway.

Wesley nodded coldly at him. "Agent Bruno." Giorgio flinched almost imperceptibly. "May I help you?"

Giorgio hesitated, seemingly torn between staying his ground and fleeing the room. He took a deep breath, then looked at Evan, steely resolve visible in his gaze.

"I came to apologise. That was unnecessarily cruel of me, and completely uncalled for." Giorgio forced himself to remain standing in the doorway despite Alan and Wesley's heated glares. Evan averted his gaze, turning away from Giorgio.

I deserved that. They have every right to be furious. I wouldn't be surprised if Evan never speaks to me again.

"It's fine Giorgio. I shouldn't have woken you. I'm sorry I overstepped my boundaries." Evan still wasn't looking at Giorgio.

"No, it's not fine. I should never have said that." Giorgio swallowed, feeling a lump forming in his throat.

"I didn't mean it. I swear, I didn't. I was wrong. I don't just think of you as a field partner. You've always been there for me. I don't know why you keep hanging around me even though I'm ungrateful and moody. Even when I've chased everybody else off, you're still there. You've been an amazing friend to me, and I've been utterly awful in return." Giorgio was shaking slightly as he forced himself to be honest. He hated opening up and letting himself be vulnerable, but he owed Evan at least this much.

Alan and Wesley were staring at Giorgio in astonishment. To his horror, he found that his face was wet with tears. With a sudden surge of embarrassment, he turned and fled the room.

He didn't get far.

A pair of warm arms embraced Giorgio comfortingly. Turning, he saw that Evan was grinning even as his own eyes were still teary.

Giorgio tried to shrug him off. "Why…? Don't… you shouldn't be nice to me…"

Evan shook his head, looking fondly exasperated. "That's what friends are for, Gi. Sure, you can be a grouchy loner sometimes, but we like having you around. Why else would we keep inviting you to hang out?"

Slowly, Giorgio wrapped his own arms around Evan, holding him tightly. He felt warm and safe, like coming home after a long time away. After a few moments, he reluctantly disentangled himself from the latter's protective embrace, looking uncertainly at Alan and Wesley. "I should apologise to you two as well. You're always inviting me to hang out, even though I keep blowing you off…"

"Apology accepted. I get it, you like your alone time. But it'd be nice to see you a bit more often, yeah?" Alan crossed his arms, smirking at Giorgio.

Wesley fixed Giorgio with a stony gaze. "If you ever hurt Evan like that again, I promise you won't live to regret it. Are we clear?"

Giorgio swallowed. "Believe me, I'd be handing you the gun myself."

Wesley held his gaze a moment longer, then nodded. "Just so long as we're clear. That said, I'm glad to see you too."

"Hey, Gi."

Giorgio hadn't realised until now how much he'd missed that nickname.

"What is it?" He tried to sound nonchalant as he wiped his eyes, scrubbing away the tear marks on his cheeks.

Evan was gazing at him curiously. "What made you change your mind? I thought you wanted to sleep."

Giorgio's face reddened. "I… I couldn't fall asleep," he admitted. "I guess I was feeling guilty… and lonely."

The knowing grins on the other agents' faces were almost worth the embarrassment of baring his soul to them.

He grinned back at them. "So, what are we doing?"