Decent Days and Nights
Summary: This is a tale about the lives and loves of the people of New York, mainly that of it's New York City Police Department. Character based fic, two new main OC's. It's fun!
Disclaimer: You can see my disclaimer on my user page.
A/N: There's some 'bad' language and things are implied…things happen…but I'll warn you as it happens. This is also as a more…conversational fic, if that makes sense, there'll be a tiny bit less of my description mania and more talking. It's set in season one and...I've had this on the back burner for a while...Short start...
Enjoy!
With hands folded across his chest, a weary Danny Messer let out a short frustrated curse.
Gritting his teeth he checked his watch and frowned at the time; he was stood in a large auto shop in downtown New York titled 'Wheelers & Dealers', impatiently wondering how many more minutes of his life were going to be wasted in that place.
After a brief, but memorable two week vacation with a friend in Miami; Danny had returned back to New York, expecting to find his beloved jeep (won at a work banquet) to have been repaired.
Yet three weeks later, Danny had yet to see any signs that his car would be returned to him any time soon.
Gazing around at his surroundings he took in the shop's grimy windows, the surfaces that were layered with saw dust, the grey, harshly lit room littered with various car parts and assorted mechanical items. Further from him, beyond two old battered cars and one gleaming new Porsche was a stack of boxes with more car parts. Past the boxes was the office of the auto shop owner, the screens had been drawn down with its black office door locked.
"Why is this taking so long?" he said slowly, trying to keep his temper in check.
"It's taking 'so long', because you keep interrupting me" muttered the mechanic working on the car.
Although obscured by the raised hood of the car, the person was distinctly female and had the unmistakable tone of someone who was pissed off.
Danny was silent for a few moments and wondered about the location of the owner of the auto shop. Normally he would give Danny a discount and make sure that Danny's car was put at the top of the repair list but the place was near empty and he wasn't sure the grouchy mechanic working on his car was going to be as considerate.
"You know what I don't have time for this, I-I, can I talk to Eddie?" he asked sounding gruffer than he meant to.
The woman's head peered from under the hood briefly to answer him, her face was slightly scruffy by oil stains and her bottle blonde hair was falling over her eyes but the high levels of irritation she was radiating were very clear.
"Do you mind shutting up? Firstly, Eddie ain't here and second; you got a problem? Try finding someone else who will do such a good job on these prices" she challenged, her hands planted firmly on her hips
Danny sighed and folded his arms across his chest, knowing she was right but not willing to confirm this by answering.
From his look the woman smirked smugly and her head disappeared behind the hood again. Shaking his head to himself, Danny refused to let her have the last word. It had been three weeks since he'd last seen, let alone used his car and he was tired of constantly relying on co-workers to get a lift to and from work.
"You're new right? So maybe you don't realise this, but I've been waiting for that car for three weeks now, is there any way you can speed this up a little? Please" said Danny, attempting and failing to sound a little more friendly than he felt
The girl re-emerged from under his car hood and slammed it down angrily, causing the items on a nearby work bench to clatter together slightly "That's it! I'm not doing this! I have been working on this…car, trying to find matching parts and the entire time, you've been standing there breathing down my neck. Why don't you just…" the woman then proceeded to turn the air a rich blue with a string of expletives.
Danny gaped at her and felt the temper he'd been trying to reign in come shooting up to the surface
"Hey! The fuck is your problem? I didn't come here and ask to be insulted for something that is your job, this is my car, excuse me for trying to find out why the hell it's still in the auto shop for a few scratches and shit!" he snapped back.
In the back of his mind, he had an inkling that his anger was misdirected but that did nothing to lessen his anger
"Actually if I didn't do this job right, this thing'd fall apart in a light breeze since you've been treating it so badly. So it's really not some 'scratches and shit'" hissed the woman
"Well then deal with it! Like you were supposed to three weeks ago so that you can go ahead and over price me" he retorted, imitating her crossed arms and feet apart stance
"Not my problem anymore, get the hell out of here and take your car with you. Or I will kick, your, ass" she gestured with a flick of her blonde hair towards the repair shop's raised metal grate which served as an entrance
The woman squared her shoulders confrontationally and straightened her back to make the most of her height of 5'4", despite being much shorter than Danny, he had no doubt in his mind that she wouldn't be afraid to get into blows with him.
"I ain't going nowhere, I've been waiting…" he started, only for the blonde to interject, she made a sweeping gesture towards the entrance of the shop with her hand
"Save it, I want you out of here, you loud mouth son of a…" the woman suddenly froze mid-flow as a third voice, this time male was heard
"What's going on here?"
A few brief strides later and Don Flack was stood staring down at the blonde, shaking his head with a mixture of disappointment, confusion and weariness.
Danny noted the recognition between the two and voiced his thoughts "Wait a minute, do you two know each other?"
Flack let out a snort and spoke dryly, as if he'd just heard a joke "Yeah, she's my sister"
The woman pulled an embarassed face "Hey...bro"
"You wanna excuse us for a second?" he said briskly to Danny
Danny shrugged "Go ahead. Its not like I'm waiting for something or anything"
The woman snorted "Ass"
Flack frogmarched his sister up to the auto shop office and slammed the door shut the door behind them.
"What the hell was that?" he snapped impatiently "What was the whole deal with you and Danny back there?"
"Danny? Why do you care, what is he your boyfriend?" she teased but he wasn't biting
Don gave her a warning look "I work with him. So explain, now"
His sister looked sheepish "Huh…of all the auto shops in all the world you had to come into mine…" she trailed off at the no-nonsense look in her brother's eyes
"And…what are you even doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work now…" he faltered and took in her new blonde hair and groaned, a wry grin replacing his frown. It seemed she hadn't truly gotten over her penchant for changing her hair colour on a whim.
"Veronica Robin Theresa Flack, do you want to explain your hair? Can you stick to one?" he sighed a mock long suffering sigh.
His sister arched her eyebrows "Don't talk to me about hair, Donald Robert Eugene Flack. And it's Ronnie" she sniped, putting emphasis on the word Ronnie, which was her nickname
Don flinched at the use of his full name, especially Eugene but he pressed on, folding his arms across his chest and fixed her with a firm look. "Don't make me get parental on you, I want to know what was going on back there. Now"
Ronnie's face was suddenly transformed into the picture of innocence, she widened her eyes and smiled winsomely "You know Eddie and I are good friends right? Well I owed him a favour. So, he said he wanted to cash in on that favour and…he asked me to look after the shop while he was away on business. Conventions for cars…crap like that."
Flack narrowed his eyes "What has that got to do with the drama that was going on in here though?"
Ronnie rolled her eyes "I'm getting there, anyway…so I'm here working for free I might add, when this…guy just struts in and starts shouting orders all over the place, talking down to me, being an asshole and hassling me" she looked suddenly endearingly wide-eyed and pitiful "I was just minding my own..."
"That's crap." said Flack cutting her off mid flow
By the look on his face it was apparent he had believed nothing of what his sister had claimed for he was far too used to her schemes and argumentative nature.
"Since when has anyone hassled you? You have got to get over your weird persecution complex and get your attitude checked, I put my neck out getting you a good job here and I don't want you to go and screw it up on your first day. Ain't you supposed to be there in a half hour?"
Ronnie sighed impatiently and nodded "Well I would have been, if I hadn't been left with all of Eddie's left over customers. I don't even know the rest of the guys who work here but those asses are down at the bar on eighth while I get stuck here" she muttered bitterly and wiped some of the grime on her face, preening in a mirror that sat above the part-time accountant's desk
"You don't have to worry about work, I'll be there…as soon as I finish here. Clean and polished and I'll be a model employee, you watch" she added
Don sniffed disbelievingly but his expression had softened. He smiled at his baby sister and ruffled her hair even further "C'mere, Ronnie, give your big brother a hug"
Ronnie grinned and let her brother pull her into a bear hug. He kissed her forehead lovingly and then sighed, one arm still around her.
"You know this doesn't mean you're anywhere near being off the hook but first things first, where you staying?"
"On a pal's sofa" replied Ronnie sheepishly, she knew she should have had an apartment prepared by the time she came to start work as a member of the NYPD but had failed to do so and had ended up sharing a cramped apartment with four other people
Don pinched her arm "For Christs…" he looked thoughtful for a moment "All right, after work move your stuff into my place and we'll see what we can do about finding you your own place, anyway, I'm going to finish up whatever work you had here and you're going to go back to my place and get yourself cleaned up. Then you get your loud ass to work"
His sister appeared to be about to start yet another argument but thought better of it and shrugged her shoulders reluctantly "Okay. Fine, whatever", he leant back against the wall and surveyed her
"You better be on your best behaviour, or I'm coming after ya"
"Like I'm scared of you"
"Yeah you are and will you please wear something a little more respectable than your usual get up? You're gonna regret wearing those earrings and heels of yours after a couple of hours in those labs"
Ronnie pinched him, hard, and chuckled teasingly "Hey! Are you saying I'm not respectable?"
Don chuckled "Like hell you are."
Ronnie paused as if she was about to say something yet again, but changed her mind and settled for giving him a dirty look before headed out of the auto shop not so quietly muttering about how her brother had serious control issues.
Don watched her go wryly and felt the beginnings of a headache.
A/N: Hated fanfiction for a while there so I wasn't posting, but I've regained my passion for it and I'm back now! THANK YOU to NeverMindDream for giving Decent...it's first 'decent' reviews. Oh and the best is yet to come from little miss Ronnie Flack! ; )