A/N: Isn't it great how complete strangers can become friends over the fictional pairing of television characters? Conceived as a result of two Tuckson fans putting their crazy thoughts together, this "crack fic" explores the meeting of JennBenson's Charlie and MarigoldMusing's Sarah and Brooke. It'll be a crazy adventure as Tucker's OC daughters meet and their lives converge. While we both want to know what you think, please keep in mind that this story is written PURELY for fun and is not meant to be taken seriously. Please review and include suggestions for future chapters!
Carisi saw Brooke before she saw him, so she jumped when he turned up behind her.
"Hey there," He said, poking her in the small of the back, "You look good for an overworked teacher."
Brooke slowly swiveled, "Well, that sounds like Detective Carisi." She grinned as he kissed her. "Good to see you again sir."
"It's been too long."
"You've been busy."
Carisi shrugged, "Gotta keep Manhattan safe, ya know?"
The bartender arrived and took Sonny's drink order. He returned immediately with a vodka tonic. Sonny thanked him for the quick service, twisted the lime, and lifted the glass.
"Cheers," he said.
"Cheers," she repeated.
Shortly after they'd downed their initial sips, Sarah came prancing in, and, as usual, seemed to suck up most of the oxygen in the room. She dropped her leather attache case on the floor, wiggled out of her peacoat, and tossed it over an empty barstool, allowing the hem to drag on the sticky wooden floor.
"Gawwwd, I am so glad today's over." It was still early, so the bar wasn't crowded. Nevertheless, Sarah leaned forward and waved her arms, frantically signalling for attention.
"Will you calm down?" Brooke sniped.
"I need a drink. Right. Now." Sarah insisted.
"What exactly do you do again?" Sonny asked, laughing at Sarah's desperation.
"I manage other people's money," Sarah replied. Finally she got the bartender's attention and motioned for a gin-and-tonic with a lime and a lemon, identical to what her sister was drinking. "And this week was royally fucked up. Rollercoaster on the market."
"Wish I had money for you to manage," Sonny quipped.
"I wish I had money for me to manage," Sarah whined, "New York is so fucking expensive."
Brooke rolled her eyes, "Shhh, geez, Sare, we're not the only people in here ya know."
"Oh come on, Brooke, it's a bar. And there are like three FUCKING people in here."
Sonny shook his head and laughed while surveying the area. The place was nearly empty except for two couples at two separate booths and a woman huddled at the far end of the bar. Nobody paid them any attention.
Charlie was sitting in the far corner at the bar of a pub she had never been to, waiting for Trevor to finally get off work and show up. She was trying not to down her gin and tonic, with extra lime, too quickly preferring to be sober upon his arrival. As she checked her phone again, she noticed the loud and slightly boisterous entrance of another young woman. It was hard not to stare just a little bit, but she tried to talk herself down.
Stop staring, Charlie. You won't make any friends by giving them strange looks.
Clearly the trio wasn't going to pay her any mind, so she just went back to checking football scores on her phone until she heard the bells ring, signaling someone entered the pub.
"Hey, sweetheart!" Trevor said, swiftly sitting down next to her and kissing her softly. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's okay," Charlie said with a smile and leaned up to kiss him again, albeit briefly. Trevor signaled for the bartender, placed his order, and finally relaxed into his barstool.
"Slow night tonight," he said, glancing around and getting a glimpse of two couples in booths before giving a quick look at the three people parked in the center of the bar. After doing a quick double take, he realized he recognized the man that was with the two giggling blondes.
"Hey, is that Carisi?" he asked Charlie and she looked over with a squint in her eyes.
"I think so?" She replied. "I don't really know him all that well. Haven't seen him since, well, Josh's sentencing."
"Ah," Trevor said, gripping her hand. "I'll just wait and see if he notices me. In the meantime, wanna split an appetizer?"
…
Sarah peeled her eyes away from her immediate audience to ogle at the tall, handsome man who had just sauntered in. Brooke continued talking, but Sarah paid no attention. Noticing this, both Brooke and Carisi followed Sarah's gaze.
"Gawwwwd," she murmured, "He's gorgeous."
Carisi scratched his head, "I think I know that guy from somewhere."
"Oh Sonny," Sarah swatted at him but still kept her eyes on the new arrival, "You know everybody."
"Calm down, sister," Brooke said, "He has a date." She watched the man take a seat next to the girl at the end of the bar and exchange kisses with her.
Sarah's expression turned into one of firm resolve. "I didn't see a ring. He's fair game."
Brooke took a sip, "He looks pretty into her. And she's cute. Sorry sis."
Sarah pouted.
Carisi leaned over, trying to get a better look at the couple. "The guy looks familiar, but she does too." He examined Brooke's face and then closely studied Sarah's.
"What?" Sarah snapped, annoyed.
"She looks a lot like you two."
Brooke rolled her eyes. "Her hair's way darker than ours."
"Don't you bleach yours?" Carisi asked innocently, not knowing both Sarah and Brooke would take offense.
"No," Brooke replied.
Sarah slung an arm around her sister's shoulders, "Thank you. We would never dye our hair, except when we get gray, of course." She glanced down at the strangers, "And besides, we're much better looking. Except, for, maybe not that guy. He'd fit in well with us. So tall and...perfect. The girl can go."
Just then "the girl", probably feeling the scrutiny, looked over, causing Brooke and Sarah to act overly casual.
"Omigod," Sarah gasped into her gin and tonic.
"I know," Brooke replied.
"What?" Sonny asked, unable to keep up with the sisters' unspoken communication.
"Lookit her," Sarah muttered.
Brooke completed the thought. "Like looking in a fucking mirror."
…
"Those girls keep staring at me," Charlie muttered, trying to focus on squeezing the lime into her drink. She was feeling uncomfortable.
"Maybe Carisi pointed out that he knew me," Trevor said. "I wouldn't worry about it. Although…"
"What?" Charlie's head snapped up, looking at Trevor as he closely examined the trio on the other side of the bar. "Why are you staring?"
"Aside from their hair being just a touch lighter than yours, you three are almost identical," Trevor said in a hushed whisper, almost as if it were some top-secret information.
"That's ridiculous," Charlie said, refusing to look over there anymore. "Stop looking at them and focus on me."
Trevor looked over at her and smiled, brushing her hair back from her face. He took a sip of his bourbon, the kind that Ed got him hooked on, and then leaned down to kiss his girlfriend.
"Now you are just rubbing it in," Charlie said with a smirk. "Stop the PDA."
"Nah," he said in a low, bedroom type voice. "I'm just making sure everyone knows that the most beautiful woman in this bar is all mine."
Charlie blushed and ducked her head. She still wasn't used to getting this kind of attention from someone, but she had to admit she was falling for Trevor. Just then, she stole a glance over at the trio and noticed they had been staring again. She immediately reached for Trevor's hand, staking her claim as well.
"The loud one keeps eyeing you," she said, with a little contempt in her voice. "I don't like it."
"Jealous, baby?" Trevor asked with a grin. "Gonna let me keep PDA-ing?"
"You're impossible," she said, throwing her head back as she laughed. Trevor rubbed her back a bit as Charlie straightened up and took one more look at the girls across the bar. That was when her jaw, the same one that she got from her father, dropped. "Holy shit."
"What?" He asked, alarmed at her sudden change of demeanor.
"I do look just like them…"
…
Carisi shifted back and forth from foot to foot; he was keyed up and hyper, looking forward to a free weekend with Brooke and whatever they decided to do. He hadn't had much direct contact with Trevor Langan, but he felt like he should at least offer a cursory hello.
"I'm gonna go over and say hi," he announced cautiously, expecting Sarah to deride him for his collegiality, but, she only waved him off and leaned in for a sisterly whisper.
Carisi made his way over, smiled broadly, and held his hand out to Langan, "Counselor, right? Langan? Sonny Carisi."
Trevor shook his hand and smiled cautiously, knowing Carisi's company had already rubbed Charlie the wrong way. "Yeah, how are you, ah, Detective, right?"
"That's right," Sonny replied and shifted his glance to Brooke, "And who's this?"
"My girlfriend, Charlotte," he said looking over at her while speaking, just to make sure she was okay with him speaking for her. He knew enough about Carisi to know that unless he got more information, they wouldn't be left alone. Charlie seemed to nod at him, so Trevor continued. "Known each other a few years, brought together by none other than the NYPD. Her father's a Captain."
Sonny raised his eyebrows at the funny coincidence, "Oh? My girlfriend's father is NYPD. That's her over there," Sonny jerked his head in the direction of Brooke and Sarah, "With her sister."
Charlie downed the rest of her drink and signaled for the bartender to bring them another round. If Carisi was going to insist on being chatty, she needed more alcohol. New people, or even slightly familiar people, were not her thing and she didn't like the way the one girl was eyeing Trevor.
Carisi took the hint that Langan and his date wanted to keep to themselves, so he bade them farewell and sauntered back over to the girls.
"That didn't take long," Brooke remarked, yanking Sonny over to her, wanting to hold him close for a few seconds.
"Yeah, they didn't seem to want to chat," Sonny reported gloomily, "But, coincidentally, the girl? Turns out her Dad's NYPD, too."
Sarah snorted, "Hah! Oh yeah?" She gave Brooke a playful shove, "Brookey, Daddy's probably way higher up than her Dad. And, maybe he's even investigated him! Omigod, omigod, omigod, Sonny, we have to go over there and talk to them, or, buy them a shot or something so they have to talk to us."
"Sarah," Brooke snapped, annoyed, "What are the chances of that being true? You make up ridiculous things in that deranged head of yours. And Sonny said her Dad is NYPD, so it's not like Dad took his badge or anything."
"So competitive," Sonny observed, amused, "Should we challenge them to darts, too?"
Sarah shrugged, "Maybe. I suck, but you and Brooke can play. At any rate, I definitely wouldn't mind getting to know your buddy a little better."
Carisi and Brooke had just recently started using the terms boyfriend and girlfriend, but Sonny had already perfected the eye roll most Tucker family members employed at least once per conversation with Sarah. "Seems like she's his girlfriend."
Sarah rolled her eyes, "Oh gawwwwd," she huffed, exasperated, "You people act like relationships are so permanent. Fuck." She waved over the bartender and looked back and forth from Brooke to Sonny, "What kinda shots are we sending them?"
"You wanna get going?" Trevor asked Charlie quietly, noticing she had clammed up ever since Carisi had come over. He watched her take a deep breath, indicating she was having some kind of inner conversation with herself and likely trying to convince herself it was okay to make friends, but when she looked back up at him it was with a resigned face.
"Yeah," she said, giving him an apologetic smile. "Might be best."
Trevor just shook his head, indicating there was nothing to be sorry about, and leaned over to kiss her. That was when he heard a throat clearing, and peeled himself away from Charlie to see the bartender dropping off two reddish-brown colored shots.
"The young ladies over there sent these over," he said. "Cheers."
Charlie and Trevor looked over at the trio once again and saw they were still a little giggly but had raised their shot glasses to them. Resigned to the fact that these people were not going to leave them alone, at least for the time being, the couple raised the shot glass to them and muttered a thank you before all five young adults downing liquor. Charlie immediately reached for her water to chase, as it had been surprisingly spicy, while Trevor just smiled at her.
"Fireball," he said quietly, kissing her to get a bit more flavor from the shot, then turning to the group who gifted it to them. "Been years since I've had that. Thanks for the throwback."
"No problem," Sonny called over to them with a smirk.
Brooke peeled herself from the barstool, hissing, "you two are so rude."
Sarah murmured, "We bought them a fucking shot," but Brooke was already walking away. She weaved through the thickening crowd and wedged herself at the very end of the bar so, as she spoke to Trevor and Charlie, she could see Sarah casting a prying stare from fifteen feet away.
"Hi," Brooke put a reassuring hand on Charlie's shoulder. By now, she'd had a few drinks and was feeling overly nice and kind and responsible for her tactless sister. "Sorry about the choice of liquor...it wasn't my first choice but my sister demanded we do Fireball. I actually hate it." Brooke waited for the girl or for Trevor to say something, but they both just looked quizzically at her. "So...your father's NYPD, too?"
"Yes," the girl replied curtly.
Okaayyy, Brooke thought, starting to adopt Sarah's attitude. Geez. She decided to try breaking the ice with Langan. "So, you're a lawyer?"
"Yep," he said, with slightly more enthusiasm than his date.
"Prosecution or defense?"
"Defense mostly."
"I wanted to be a lawyer," Brooke was making this up for small talk's sake. The more she looked at the girl the more she noticed how closely her features matched Sarah's. Of the two sisters, Brooke's face was rounder and softer, Sarah's cheeks, forehead, and jaw were more defined like their father's. Even now, wearing a faint frown, the girl bore such a striking resemblance, Brooke had to keep talking in order to prolong the analysis. "But I became a teacher instead. I guess I just got sick of school."
"Law school is a bear," Langan replied.
"What do you do?" Brooke asked the girl.
"I work for ESPN," Charlie said, warming up slightly to Brooke's warm personality and keen smile. As she spoke, she couldn't help but notice that despite a different hair color, it was basically like looking in the mirror. "I mainly cover college sports, writing and doing off camera interviews."
"Watching football with her is an experience," Trevor said proudly, also offering a little smirk towards Charlie in hopes of encouraging her to loosen up a bit.
"Oh, wow!" Brooke was truly impressed and made sure she conveyed that sentiment. "Um, I don't think I caught your name. I'm Brooke."
"Charlie."
"Nice to meet you. Again, I'm sorry for those disgusting shots, but, we were planning on playing darts or pool or something. Do you two want to join us? My sister's horrible at both, so it'll at least be fun to laugh at her." Brooke didn't wait for a response. She waved Sarah and Sonny over.
Sarah nearly crashed into Trevor. "Well, helllooo, new friends." Even though she used the word "friends" she was buzzed up and sounded more menacing than well-intentioned. She craned her head to look up at Trevor, "How tall are you?"
Carisi shook his head and glanced helplessly at Brooke who shot lasers at her sister.
"Whaaat?" Sarah whined, noticing the glare but keeping her eyes fixed on Langan, "Were you a pro basketball player or something?"
"No," he replied.
"Trevor's a lawyer," Brooke explained gently like she was talking to Noah.
Sarah widened her eyes with interest, "A divorce lawyer? I need one of those."
"Sorry," Trevor said, "I haven't done a divorce case in years."
"But you could if I needed you to, right?"
Carisi was appalled at Sarah's presumptuousness. "He's a defense attorney, Sare. So, if you want to hire him, you'd have to commit some type of crime. Which, considering how fast you're drinking, could happen tonight."
Brooke switched places with Sonny so she could be next to her sister, "This is Charlie," Brooke said, trying to change the subject and get Sarah to tone down her flirting. "And, in a way, we're kind of related...being NYPD kids and all." Brooke smiled at Charlie. "Was it hard for you growing up with a cop Dad?"
"Ummm," Charlie replied, chewing on her fingernail a bit and trying to decide how to answer. She still wasn't very comfortable, but clearly this Brooke girl was trying to be friendly. The least she could do was reciprocate, and maybe even stake her claim on Trevor. "Yeah, in a way. He wasn't around much. Now he's more involved, though. He and Trev like to play basketball on the weekends. And for some reason enjoy letting me decimate them in the batting cages." She smiled a bit as she noticed Brooke and Carisi were actually interested in what she was saying, even laughing a little bit with her, so she figured it was okay to let the other girl's flirting go. Trevor wasn't going anywhere. "What about with you two? I imagine it might be a bit easier with a built-in-friend?"
"Omigawwwwd," Sarah replied before Brooke managed to utter a word, "When we were little, like, eight or nine, Daddy was neverrrr around because he was always out...I don't know, on the hostage team or something, but then he switched departments and our parents got divorced and our bitch of a mother basically kidnapped us to Long Island so we spent our early teenage years shuttling back and forth on the train." Only the need for a drink stopped Sarah's verbal barrage. "Where in the hell is that bartender? Jesus. I know it's getting busy, but, damn."
Carisi leaned far over the bar to get someone's attention, knowing if Sarah was ignored for much longer, things could get ugly.
Brooke put an arm around her sister, "Sarah exaggerates. But only slightly. We were not kidnapped. Our mom got remarried and Dad changed jobs to have a more predictable schedule, and we felt more comfortable with him than with this new family. We have a half brother, but we hardly know him. He was just starting to talk when I went off to college, and Sarah lived with Dad in high school."
Unwilling to let Charlie's Dad have some sort of leg up over theirs, Sarah chimed in, "And Daddy's super athletic, but we never played sports. We're very good at watching them and having him buy us thirteen dollar beers at Yankees games."
Satisfied Sarah was calming down, Brooke released her from the shoulder grasp. Another round of drinks arrived and the group clinked glasses.
"To new friends," Sonny offered cheerfully.
Brooke repeated the toast, but doubted Charlie and Trevor would become their friends.
"New friends," Charlie said quietly, but the group heard her and seemed a little surprised as they began to sip their drinks. As she sat her fresh gin and tonic on the counter, he took a breath and turned to face the sisters more. You can do this, Charlie. Just be friendly.
"I have a half sister," she offered. "I guess similar to what you described, Sarah, except my...mother...if that's what you would call her, took me off to Florida. Dad missed most of my teenage years. Reconnected when I moved back up here for college."
Trevor put his arm around Charlie, proud of her for letting go and speaking up more, although he was confident it was all liquid courage.
"I don't talk to my mom anymore," she offered, hoping her openness would come across as an olive branch of sorts. "Just Dad, my step-mom and step-brother. He's four."
Brooke and Sarah exchanged shocked glances.
"We have a step-mom and a four-year-old stepbrother," Brooke said slowly.
"Real moms are the fucking worst," Sarah snapped, failing to see the other part of this very strange coincidence. "If it weren't for our step-mother, who, as a matter of fact, I see as my real mother, then I seriously would need ya, Trev, 'cause I've wanted to kill her several times. You could probably get me off claiming mental instability or something right?"
She batted her eyes at Trevor, flirting again, and Brooke inconspicuously pinched her just above the hip.
"I don't think that would take a lot of convincing," Trevor said, in a half-joking and half-serious tone.
"Wait," Charlie said, trying to shake herself out of a tipsy fog. This was too weird. She couldn't figure out if she was just drunker than she realized, in some weird dream, or if real life was this strange. "So...both of our Dads are NYPD. We both have a step-mother and four-year-old stepbrother…"
"And you girls look like fucking triplets," Carisi threw in, clearly just as drunk as the rest of them.
At that comment, and feeling this strange desire to offer his girlfriend some extra support, Trevor reached out and squeezed Charlie's hand.
"It is a strange coincidence," he muttered, downing the rest of his drink before slamming it back on the bar. "Oops," he said. "Didn't mean to do that."
Sarah blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog of her buzz and get a clear focus on this new person who really did look like a relative. Narrowing her eyes, she peered at Charlie and stepped closer and closer until she was only inches from the other young woman's face. Charlie tried to lean back, but could only go so far away from the blonde as she was backed against the wall of the bar. Brooke looked on nervously, knowing how unpredictable Sarah was both sober and drunk. She inched even closer and Brooke finally pushed her back gently, but firmly enough to cause Sarah to stumble into Sonny.
"Whoah, there," Carisi said, giggling, "You alright? Want another shot?"
"No," Brooke implored, but nobody paid attention to her.
Sarah rubbed her temples. Consternation flooded her face. "What. The. Fuck."
"What the hell?" Charlie asked softly, shaking her head a bit. "Ever hear of someone's personal space?"
Trevor just rubbed at her back, hoping that didn't erase the progress made so far in this strange interaction. He watched as Charlie pulled her cell out of her back pocket and quickly shot off a text to Ed, though he couldn't quite make out what it said.
"You okay?" He whispered in her ear, much to Sarah's dismay, and Charlie just nodded.
"Yep," she said, plastering a smile on her face and signaling the bartender to get another round. "Next round is on us," she said, leaning into Trevor a little more than she usually did. But this was not a normal evening. "Then, how about a round of darts?"
"Yes!" Sarah exclaimed. "I love darts!"
Brooke scoffed, "You do not. But, yeah, let's play. It'll be good to move a little bit."
The quintet moved to the dart area and Sarah, despite proclaiming her love of the game, agreed to let the couples battle it out first. "I'll just drink," she slurred, raising her glass before downing the rest of its contents. "And I'll also be responsible for refills! Anyone?"
They shook their heads.
"Maybe in a few minutes," Carisi said, "Right now, it's on!"
They let Charlie throw first and her dart landed on the edge of the bullseye. Carisi and Trevor walked up to the board to inspect the shot, and Brooke and Sarah marvelled at her skill.
"Holy SHIT, girl!" Sarah shouted. "You're fucking amazing."
Brooke nodded in agreement, "You can probably beat them by yourself. And everyone else here."
Charlie blushed a bit, then smiled at the girls. "Well, maybe we can use that to our advantage later. The whole place will be buying our drinks if we play our cards right…"
Just then, they heard the jingling of the bells attached to the bar door signaling that someone else was entering. It was as if life was happening in slow motion, as all five heads turned towards the door to observe the older, grey haired man walk in and take a scan of the room as if he were looking for someone in particular. Just then, the man made eye contact with the three women over by the dart board and they all let out a little gasp.
"Hey, that's my Dad!"
….
Review, Anyone?