Title: Keeping my Boy safe
Author: Claddagh
Pairing: Chandler/Kent
Rating: PG-15 (One swearword, violence, but nothing too bad)
Disclaimer: Not mine. ITV's. Never mine.
Summary: Short fic - What if Kent was there when Joe fought Jimmy in the ring?
Author's notes : Follows most dialogue in the actual scene (bar one or two major slashy alterations), so if you are not a fan of those sorts of fics then you might want to pass on this one. Also Kent and Chandler are NOT together in this, it is pre-slash.
"I've told you before. Don't listen to Buchan!" Miles shouted at Chandler, slightly out of breath from trying to keep up with the larger and rapid paces of the DI. "If you walk in there everyone will know we're not arse deep in Toby Jugs in Somerset! We'll lose that protection!"
Kent, also slightly out of breath, trotting slightly behind Chandler on his other side to Miles, looked agitatedly between his two superior officers, realising that he should probably stay out of this argument. He glanced to Chandler who was still marching towards the old rundown gym that the twins used, his head not even turning to acknowledge Miles as he answered him.
"You don't have to be here."
Miles visibly bristled and he bared his teeth in anger and exasperation at the DI. "You don't need a Sergeant, you need a nanny. Someone who doesn't get bored of telling you you're gonna get yourself killed!"
"Clock of Miles, seriously!" Chandler replied, his voice raised and a hint of anger coming through in his tone.
Kent's eyes were still focused on the tallest man's back, until the metallic clang of a heavy door opening drew his attention. His footsteps and his breath faltered for a moment when one of the twins came marching out of the door towards them, his stance confrontational and his mouth set in a sneer.
"Oi! What you done with my boy?"
So this twin was Jimmy then. Kent's heart began to thump within his chest in fear just at the sight of one of the twins. Both he and Miles hung back for a second, while Chandler walked forward a step or so, spreading his arms wide, no trace of hesitance in his approach.
"I haven't done anything with anyone. My enquiry has been shut down."
The young man swallowed nervously as Jimmy came to stop right in front of Chandler, their faces barely a centimetre apart. Kent knew that such close contact with someone he didn't trust would unnerve his DI, but to his credit, he didn't show it, he held Jimmy's gaze and didn't back down in any way. He glanced to Miles who flanked Chandler on his other side, only receiving a worried look in return.
"If I find out you've touched a hair on his head…" Jimmy's cold eyes settled on Kent for a fraction of a second, before returning to Chandler. "I'll finish what we started with your boy." he whispered dangerously, minutely jerking his head in the DC's direction.
Both Miles and Kent saw the red flash in Chandler's eyes, before his lips curled in a scowl and he violently shoved Jimmy backwards, the gangster blanching for a second, not expecting such a vehement retaliation from the usually calm DI.
"I'd like to see you try to hurt him!" Joe snarled, taking another step towards Jimmy, his left hand moving outwards and to the side, across Kent's path as if to protect him from the twin.
"Oh I get it…you want Jimmy Kray to loose his cool?" The cocky smile that found its way onto the gangsters face only seemed to make Joe angrier, his hands clenching into fists. "I aint fallin' for that, no. If you want to fight me, do it properly." He invaded Chandler's personal space once more, yet still the DI stood his ground. "Sportsman-like. In the ring."
"No." Came Miles' slightly panicked voice. The sick feeling in Kent's stomach only worsened, as when Miles was worried, there was a hell of a good reason to be worried.
"Best of three."
"Hey, Sir don't!"
"Sir!" Kent spoke up for the first time, his mouth half open in shock that Chandler would actually consider fighting Jimmy, and for what? His pride?
"Ay, ya hear that boys? It's on." Jimmy smirked, slowly turning away from the detectives and walking back towards the gym. Kent grimaced at the jeering and clapping coming from burly gym men that accompanied Jimmy's statement.
Chandler started to walk confidently towards the door of the gym, not even looking back at his companions. "Miles, I'll need you to tape me up."
"No Sir!" Kent rushed forward, ignoring the difficulty and slight pain he had trying to move his right leg so quickly after recently coming off of his crutches, and positioned himself in front of his DI, with his back to the gym. Joe stopped dead in front of Kent, the two men barely a foot away from each other.
Kent shook his head, staring up at Joe, his eyes wide. "Sir…Please. Please don't." His voice was quiet and held a clear undertone of fear in it. Fear for himself after Jimmy's threat or fear for Chandler's own safety the DI didn't know.
For a split second Joe's eyes and expression seemed to soften at his plea, but it was gone so quickly Kent couldn't be certain that it had ever been there. Chandler's left hand then came up to Kent's collar bone and firmly, but not aggressively, pushed him to the side.
"Out of the way Emerson." Came the whispered order, before Chandler scowled and walked into the gym, leaving Kent staring after him like a lost child, feeling scared, reluctant to go in there and slightly hurt that the DI was able to sweep him to the side without so much as a second backward glance.
He was pulled out his stupor when Miles came up to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, lad, we'd best get in there before he gets himself into more trouble."
"Ronnie Kray vas a vicious fighter. If Jimmy really is his son you could be in for a world of pain." Miles muttered angrily as he fixed the bulky boxing gloves onto Chandler's hands.
He rolled his eyes. "Stop worrying. I was junior boxing champion at prep school." He replied, repeatedly flexing the fingers on his hands within the boxing gloves. The DI was now sitting on one end of a bench, having removed all of the clothes from his top half, which Kent was now neatly folding next to him, laying the clothes down in a certain way so as to distract himself from Miles' next words.
"You know he wants to kill you. Stepping in there is just giving him a golden opportunity." The DS argued, finishing strapping on Chandler's gloves and letting his arms drop to his sides.
"Yeah, well, let's see if he can hit me first." Chandler sounded confident as he watched Jimmy sparring in the ring with another man, but neither Kent nor Miles seemed convinced. The DC glanced around the brightly decorated room, wincing at the sight of all of the huge muscled men who were walking around; if Chandler even got in a lucky punch how likely were these hulk-like men to intervene? He swallowed nervously.
"I'm gonna go look for a towel that I can throw in the ring." Miles then walked off, leaving the two younger men alone.
Kent stayed silent for as long as he could stand it, but he could feel the tension between them, thick and tangible.
"Sir, why are you doing this?" His voice came out a desperate hiss, the young man leaning forward towards Chandler, the other's dark blue tie balled tightly in his fist.
Joe just stared at Kent for a second before simply saying: "He's not going to hurt you again."
Kent and Miles stood side by side on the edge of the ring, the latter with the promised white towel slung over his shoulder, just in case and the former still with Joe's tie clenched in his fist, both with apprehensive expressions on their faces. Kent sharply inhaled as the bell was rang for the fight to commence and both Joe and Jimmy raised their fists and moved in towards each other. The rest of the spectators jeered and booed at Chandler and cheered for Jimmy, their deep voices all melding together to form one loud roar, only the odd insult or taunt standing out in Kent's mind.
They both circled their opponent for a few seconds before moving in, Chandler much more hesitant than Jimmy; this hesitancy cost him and Jimmy got in half a dozen hard punches, shoving Joe up against the edges of the ring with Miles shouting his protests and instructions the whole time.
"Don't let him back you up! Hey, below the belt!"
With each punch Kent flinched and his face crumbled, seeing his DI being beaten by the same person that had hurt him. He watched in horror as Jimmy backed Joe up into one corner and rained down a dozen hard punches to Chandler face and stomach, the only thing the DI could do was put his arms up to protect himself, no chance of retaliating.
The young man let out a harsh exhale when he heard the bell ring, signifying that the first round was over. Joe slumped in the nearest corner, his sweat damp hair in his eyes, while Miles and Kent quickly joined him. The DC cringed at the bruises already forming on his DI's face and the nose that was trickling blood, having been punched many times already.
"What's with all of the defence?" Miles asked indignantly. "You're soaking up his punches like a bloody sponge."
Kent glanced over at Jimmy, who was looking intently at both him and Chandler, his eyes flickering between them, a smirk on his face and a little of Joe's blood staining his gloves.
Chandler leaned over the ring towards his team members, breathless, but for some reason still smiling.
"That's the game plan."
"That's not a game plan, it's a death wish." Miles snarled. "Well whatever you're gonna do don't leave it too late." Kent watched with trepidation as Chandler nodded, still out of breath, just as the bell rang for the second round. He fixed his eyes with Kent for a second, then resumed the fight.
Jimmy still got in a few early punches and Miles looked like he wanted to throw in that towel, but suddenly, out of the blue Joe ducked to avoid a punch which would have surely broken his nose, then got in one stomach punch and another in Jimmy's face. The twin reeled back from the punch, before coming towards Chandler again, armed with new taunts.
"You're gonna fight back now are ya?" Jimmy then seemed fly into a rage, pushing Joe backwards again and repeatedly showering his body and head with vicious punches, causing him to stumble and only just manage to maintain his standing position.
One of Kent's hands was now covering his mouth, the young man unable to tear his eyes away from the fight, Miles next to him barking orders at Joe.
"What are you fighting for? That scrawny little fuck over there?" Came another of Jimmy's taunts. This one seemed to have the same effect that the earlier threat towards Kent had done outside the gym, Chandler's body stiffened and he punched Jimmy in the face with all of his strength, the noise of the impact echoing around the room. Both Miles and Kent's eyes widened in surprise, and the latter couldn't help but smirk when Jimmy stood up to reveal a bleeding gash just above his eye.
Both detectives watched in grim satisfaction as Chandler gained the upper hand and gave Jimmy a taste of his own medicine, repeatedly landing punches on the gangsters face and in his stomach until he was bent over and cowering in one corner of the ring, he didn't even stop when the bell rang for the end of the round.
Chandler's assault only finished when Dukes ran into the ring and forcefully shoved him away from Jimmy, pointing his finger threateningly at the DI and snarling at him to get out.
Chandler quickly obeyed Dukes, taking one last look at Jimmy who was holding his bleeding eye and determinedly not looking in the detectives' direction. Joe lifted his boxing gloves to Miles, a wide smile on his face, which seemed rather out of place amongst the bruises and blood that also decorated the DI's appearance.
"DNA…"
"Celebrate later, now move!" Miles ordered, wiping the gloves on the towel he had and lifting the elastic around the ring so Chandler could climb out, the three detectives painfully aware of the glares and insults that were already heading their way from the other men in the room.
Kent grabbed Joe's clothes that were laying on the bench and hurriedly followed his superior officers out of the gym, insanely relieved that the ordeal was over, for both himself and Chandler. They walked for a few hundred yards until they came to a corner and the gym was no longer in sight, before the DI slumped against the brick wall of a building and tried to catch his breath.
"I'll go and get the car." Miles muttered. "Now behave yourselves." He half warned before walking off in the direction they had parked.
Kent silently handed Chandler his blue shirt and stared resolutely at the floor while he slipped the material over his bruised flesh. Once he'd done up half of the buttons Kent finally raised is gaze, his anger softening as he took in his DI's beaten up state. Even though it was his own fault that he's that way now, Kent couldn't stop the painful jolt in his lower stomach when he saw Chandler's lips beginning to swell, his eyes darkening into two painful bruises and his nose slowly trickling with blood still.
He sighed. "When we get back to Buchan's we need to clean those cuts, don't want you ending up with any worse damage that you've already got."
Then, Miles pulled up in the unmarked police car that they had been using recently instead of Chandler's car, which was still AWOL. Kent turned, with the DI's coat and jacket still draped over his arms, meaning to make his way to the car, but a slightly hesitant voice behind him halted his progress.
"Emerson…" He turned to face Joe, noting the kind expression and the humble posture the older man had adopted. "I meant what I said. He's not going to hurt you ever again."
Again the young man's anger softened.
"I hope you're right Sir." He whispered, turning his back on Joe and walking to the car. He pointedly ignored Miles' questioning look as he climbed in and instead sat and ran his fingers over the expensive material of Chandler's coat that remained in his lap, unsure as to what emotion he should be feeling towards the recent events and the beaten and bruised man sitting in the front passenger seat.