Author's Note:
I requested this a couple of weeks ago on the kink meme but it has yet to be filled and I needed it to happen. This ended up being a lot sadder than I thought it was going to be but I really like how it turned out. Hopefully there are some other people out there who like Shane as much as I do and can appreciate this.
"I think he wants to talk to his father."
"Shaaannneee!" Carl's voice wails across the playground and Shane is on his feet like a shot. He'd been watching one of the nannies on the other side of the monkey bars. The young blonde's body was stretched, holding the wriggling body of a little girl with her hair in pigtails up so she could try to cling to the bars. With her arms above her head, Nanny Perfect's stomach is showing as her shirt separates from her hip huggers. "Shane!" He cries again. Shane looks frantically left to right trying to spot the boy.
Carl is sprawled out on the asphalt near the basketball hoops surrounded by three of his little friends. Both his hands are covering his left knee and there's blood running between his fingers.
Shane hurries to the five year old sitting on the ground. "Hey there little man. You have a nice wipeout?"
The boy sniffles, "I fell. We were chasing the ball but my shoelaces tripped me."
"Damn shoelaces." Shane ruffles Carl's hair. "Let's see that knee." Carefully he pulls back the small fingers and takes in the mess. Tiny rocks are imbedded in the long jagged scratches that run from kneecap to mid-shin. They don't look too deep but they do look painful. "Aw that ain't so bad," he reassures the boy though he knows that Lori's gonna flip shit when she sees her kid banged up like that. "Let's go to the Jeep to get cleaned up. You want to walk or you want me to carry you."
"Carry me please," The fragile voice whimpers and Shane nods rubbing a tear of Carl's cheek.
"Sure thing, little man. Up you come." With barely any effort he scoops up Carl and walks with him to the back of the Jeep. Settling Carl on the front passenger seat with the door open, he grabs the first aid kit and undoes the zipper. "We'll get that washed out a little and then wrapped up nice and neat so your mom doesn't see it, alright?" Shane chatters as he works to keep Carl distracted. The last thing he needs is Carl freaking out any more. Carefully the officer cleans the sand and gravel out with one of the bottles of water and a clean towel out of his gym bag. When the area is dirt free and patted dry he begins the process of rubbing some of that healing gunk on it before the layer of gauze, bandages and tape. He sits back to admire his work. "You good now? You can move it alright?"
Carl nods, staring down at his leg. "Feels funny."
"How about an ice cream? Will that make it better?"
A grin breaks across Carl's face as he nods more excitedly this time. "Uh-huh! Can I have chocolate?"
Nanny Perfect is at the ice cream stand when they get there and Shane can't help but grinning.
"Looks like Daddy got you all patched up, huh Sweetie?" She looks over Carl's bandages as the little boy licks his cone.
Carl's nose wrinkles, "Shane's not my daddy."
The blonde looks up as if worried she's offended Shane but he just grins. "Nah, the little man's my best friend's kid. I just take him out so his mom and dad can have an afternoon off once a week."
"Shane's my best friend!" Carl pipes up, smile splitting his face in two.
Nanny Perfect slips Shane her number on one of the half sticky ice cream napkins written in purple glitter pen.
"I'm a better father than you, Rick."
Carl's got fat tears rolling down his cheeks as he stares down forlorn at the scoop of melting chocolate in the sand. Shane passes his over immediately. "Don't worry about it, buddy." He smiles. "You take mine."
The boy sniffles dramatically and Shane rubs his shoulders. Across the slide, one of the single mom's is watching the two of them. Shane ignores her as much as he can, focusing instead on Carl and wiping chocolate off the corner of his mouth. He's got the stuff right up to his forehead.
"You're really good with him." She smiles when they both end up sharing a bench later as their small charges wrestle happily in the sandbox.
"Gives his mom and dad some alone time." Shane smile back. "Love that boy like he's my own."
Single With Kids looks puzzled. "So you're not his father?"
"If only I were that lucky," Shane beams. "Nah I just get the honor of being favourite playmate."
She nods, turning back too look at the kids again but Shane sees her reaching for her purse.
When they leave the park forty minutes later, Shane's got a number in his pocket and Carl's sticky fingers clutching tightly to his hand.
"Did I do good, Shane?" He whispers.
Shane rubs his fingers along the paper. "You did perfect little buddy. Want to go for ice cream next weekend too?"
"It ain't going to be easy, but Lori and Carl will get over you. They've done it before."
"Shane would want you to have this." Rick hands his son the gold chain that he'd taken off his friend as he held him through his last minutes.
Carl's eyes are round and scared but he takes the necklace carefully and clutches it in his fist. Rick knows his son is upset but that he doesn't want to talk about it. Carl's always been tough. They're both grieving the loss of their best friend though.
"Get some sleep." He nods and pulls the blankets up to Carl's chin.
"Night Dad." The boy whispers as his father closes the door to the car they're sleeping in.
Carl curls in on himself under the blankets. He struggles to get the clasp undone in the dark and then for another couple of minutes to get it fastened around his neck. The 22 charm is cold against his skin and he wraps his fingers around it pressing the fist hard into his chest. All alone, Carl's eye begin to water. It's this hand that pulled the trigger, the hand that's now wrapped around the last piece of Shane he has.
"Did I do good, Shane?" He whispers, voice fading off into the empty black.
There is no response but the wind in the trees outside.