Disclaimer - I do not own any of these characters - I only own the odd original character.
Author's Note - Please read and review. It encourages me a lot - I've been having some writing wobbles recently.
Walker is lying lazily in Brendan's bed. Not wanting to get up, he begins to drift back to sleep, but a buzzing sound brings him out of his snooze. Sitting up, he scans around the room, his eyes searching for the noise. He can see his phone sticking out of the pocket of his jeans, which Brendan had eagerly discarded the night before. Swinging his legs over the bed, he leans forward and grabs his jeans from the floor and pulls the phone from the pocket. It stops buzzing, '1 missed call'. It's an unknown number. He frowns, he knows who it is. The phone buzzes again in his hand. A text message. He opens the text 'We need to talk. ½ hour'. Walker deletes the message. He knows what it means. He quickly looks over his shoulder and pulls his jeans on. Doing his fly up as he stands up he looks at the door, he needs to get out of there before Brendan comes back from his shower. He grabs his black t-shirt from the floor and pulls it on. He quickly sits back down on the bed to pull on his socks and boots. Not doing up the laces he jumps back to his feet, before rushing out of the room, glancing to see if anyone is around.
Walker has been walking for 15 minutes, before he arrives at the multi-storey car park. He looks around him, to make sure he isn't being followed and heads inside. He walks over to the lift and once again checks he was alone before stepping inside. He takes a deep breath as he presses the button for the fourth floor. The doors close. When they open again less than a minute later Walker steps out onto the roof of the car park. He takes a few steps. 'Are you alone?' a woman's voice comes from behind him, he stops and smiles to himself. He hears footsteps approach as he turns around to see the tall, thin red-headed woman walking towards him. Her face is like thunder. His smile quickly fades. 'Where the hell have you been?' she snarls at him as she stops with her arms crossed a few feet in front of him. 'Where do you think I've been?' He retorts. 'Don't play smart with me. You're meant to check in.' she snaps, her eyes full of anger. Walker sighs. 'I'm sorry.' 'Sorry. You've been classed as MIA. If you hadn't turned up then I was going to have to raid his club, just to get you.' she barks at him. Walker looks down, she is really pissed and he caused it. There is an awkward silence.
'Well do you have anything?' she softens slightly. 'I'm working on it.' he replies. She shakes her head. 'You've had the last few months to get something. You're not even close are you?' she says with disbelief. 'Just give me more time.' Walker protests. 'You've had long enough.' She glares at him. 'It's not that easy.' Walker states. 'What is so difficult? You're in his pocket all the time, surely something has happened or been said. Now what is the problem?' she accuses staring straight at him. He feels uncomfortable under her glare, he feels his skin turning hot. He can't maintain eye contact and fidgets on the spot.
'Oh my god. He's got to you, hasn't he?' she can't believe it as she turns away in disbelief. 'You were meant to nail him, not let him nail you!' she spits at Walker, as she turns back to face him. Anger flashes in his eyes, he charges forward, grabbing her by the arms and pushes her into the wall with a grunt. Shawnee scoffs. 'You even smell of him.' she hisses in his ear. She gives him a shove and pushes him away from her. Shaking her head 'I could fire you for this. Sleeping with a suspect.' 'I wouldn't be the first or the last.' he snaps back at her. 'You've really ruined it. All the months and the money that's gone into this operation and you fuck it up for what? Sex? Or is it love?' Shawnee mocks Walker. When he doesn't reply she shakes her head in shock. 'Don't tell me you've fallen for the great Brendan Brady's charm? You have, haven't you?' she laughs. 'You don't know what you're on about.' Walker weakly responds. 'You're out. You're off the case. I'm not having you near him anymore. You've made it personal.' Shawnee spits at him. 'I've invested too much into this to be pulled out now. I've nearly got him. Just give me some more time.' Walker pleads. 'You're out of time. I can't trust you anymore. You're out. I need to decide how we're going to end this. I'll be in touch.' she tells him firmly as she heads for the door. Walker can't believe it, he'd done so much to get close to Brendan, crossed every code and ethic he had, hell he'd even had sex with the man, just to get something, anything that would put him away.
Frustration grew inside him. His jaw clenched, his fists tightened. He launches himself at the wall, kicking it hard and punching it fast. He growls as he lets his frustration out. He slumps against the wall, panting. He needs to sort this out, but how? He knew the truth that he was no closer to getting Brendan than he was a few months ago, he was no-where near, but he knew he had some time until Shawnee came up with his out. Sliding down the wall, he felt the brick scrape down his back as he hit the floor. With his knees up he rests his head on his folded arms. His thoughts are conflicted. Yeah, he'd invested so much into getting Brendan for what he had done to Cam, so of course he was furious that Shawnee was going to pull him out, but there was something else. Something hidden deep inside. He didn't want to admit it, admitting it would be too hard. How could he? How could he admit that was falling for the man who was slowly and painfully killing his brother?
Tears welled in his grey/blue eyes. He tilts his head back and looks up at the sky, it was cloudy. Warm salty liquid quickly escapes his eyes and spill down his burning cheeks. He had gone into this operation with his eyes open, his goal clear. It was simple, get Brendan Brady for something, anything, just get him. But it reality it was different, he had a personal motivation for getting Brendan, one that had clouded his judgement. He had made it too personal. He had made the first move on Brendan, he had changed the game. He kept telling himself that he was doing it to get Brendan to trust him, to get him to talk. But the truth was something he couldn't accept or handle. He had made that move on Brendan because he hates himself just as much as Brendan loathes himself. He was drawn to Brendan, he found solace in Brendan. He can see himself in Brendan, not all the crime, but the self-hate. He hated himself for being so focused on his career that he didn't realise that Cam was taking drugs, he hated himself for not being there for Cam, guiding him down the right path. But he hated himself more for what he had become.
He didn't know how long he'd been sat on the roof. His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw it was Brendan. He sighed. He didn't want to deal with him right now, he wished everything would just disappear. His thumb hovers over the buttons, before selecting reject. Dropping the phone on the floor next to him he rests his head against his forearms. He needs time to think. Everything else can wait.
Brendan is in his office, pacing. Phone to his ear. He hears it ring and then go to answer machine. 'Please leave a message.' he hears Walker command. 'Walker, where are you?' he answers into the receiver. He moves the phone from his ear and sighs. He leaves the office and heads behind the bar, reaches for his whiskey and a glass. Joel walks up the stairs and stops at the top. Brendan glances up as he pours the golden liquid into the tumbler. 'Where's Walker?' Joel mutters in his Scottish tone. Brendan looks back down to his glass and places the bottle on the counter. Joel walks forward. Brendan doesn't want to answer Joel, he didn't have a need to know where Walker was. Joel doesn't ask the question again, instead he just stands pointlessly. Brendan eyes him as he drinks his whiskey, watches him just stand there, not doing anything. Brendan places the now empty glass on the counter. 'What are you doing?' he asks Joel. Joel shrugs. Brendan shakes his head and shrugs. 'What does that mean?' Joel fiddles with the cuff of his leather jacket, not making eye contact with his business partner. 'Get out.' Brendan snaps. Joel looked up into the face of the other man. 'What?' he asks meekly. 'Get out. You're just standing there pointlessly and it's really fucking me off.' Brendan snarls at Joel, who looks a little startled at the outburst. 'Just get out of my sight, go do something. Anything. Just get out.' Brendan continues. Joel could see the annoyance in Brendan's face and knows not to argue. Instead he skulks over to the door and pulls it open, sending a momentary stream of daylight through the club. Quickly he was gone from Brendan's sight.
Walker knew he needed to go the club. He looked down at his phone and saw he had a voicemail. He dials and listens to it. 'Walker, where are you?' the Irish drawl ran down through the phone and into his ear. He sighs and deletes the message and ends the call. He caught a glimpse of his bloody and bruised knuckles, he lifted his other hand and saw the same. How was he going to explain them to Brendan. Knowing that it would look suspicious him only having cuts and grazes to his hands, he hauls himself to his feet. He turns to face the wall and takes a deep breath before smacking his face against the bricks. His face begins to throb as he reaches up and feel dampness above his eyebrow. Knowing he looked more convincing he opens the door and takes the steps two at a time all the way to the bottom.
Brendan is sat in his chair in his office. He's not doing anything in particular, occasionally picking up an invoice from the desk and scanning the content, but he wasn't really interested. He'd not heard anything from Walker and he was anxious. He couldn't put his finger on why he felt that way, he just did. The sound of the door to the club bang causes him to jump a little. His eyes instinctively dart to the doorway of his office. He holds his breath, he can hear heavy footsteps walking across the floor. It's not Joel, even though he has a tendency to drag his feet, no these footsteps were different. He moves his hand to the drawer of his desk, he quickly pulls it open and reaches inside, his finger tips lightly touch something metal. He grabs the metal and pulls the handgun out and places it in his lap. His back tenses as the footsteps slowly get closer. He daren't blink. His eyes fixed on the doorway. His hand tight around the gun, as his finger brushes the trigger.
Walker climbs the steps to the club. His feet barely make a noise as they touch the metal, he'd always been able to creep around un-noticed. When they were younger he would creep up on Cam all the time, it used to scare his younger brother to tears and send himself into hysterics. He gets to the door and opens it quietly, and steps inside. The moment he was inside he felt something was wrong, his body tensed. There is someone in the club that doesn't belong. Rather than pulling the door closed Walker edges towards the office. His heart is racing, he is sure it is beating so loud that whoever it is could hear. He holds his breath as he makes his way to the office, praying that he wont be heard. He can now see inside part of the office and can see a man standing in the middle of the small room, dressed in all black. A little further and he can see the man is holding a handgun. He creeps inside the office, the man is oblivious to his presence. He now sees that the man is pointing the gun straight at Brendan.
This is it, this is the moment he has so desperately wanted for months. Brendan is so close to death, a death that would be so much quicker than the one his brother is enduring. It can all be over in moments. Brendan Brady gone, dead. Never a problem in anyone else's life. Just another dead bad guy. His mind is racing, he knows Brendan has seen him enter the room, a slight flicker in his eyes tell him so, but this isn't his fight. He could leave just as quietly as he had arrived, but would it really be that simple. Could he just make his way out of the club and leave Brendan to his fate? The man lifts the gun a little higher, it is now aimed at Brendan's forehead. Walker needs to decide and he needs to decide fast.
Walker has made his decision and in one swift move he steps forward, grabs the man around the head and breaks his neck. Releasing him, he falls to the ground with a thud. Walker looks blankly at Brendan who breathes a sigh of relief. He lifts his hand with the gun and places it on the desk. Walker crouches down and with two fingers he checks for a pulse - nothing. His eyes flash up at Brendan. 'He's dead.' he says calmly - a little too calmly that he surprises himself. Brendan gets up from his chair and steps around the desk. He looms over Walker who is still kneeling next to the dead man. Brendan can see an angry cut above Walker's eyebrow. He lets the tip of his index finger follow it's trail up his forehead, startling Walker in the process. Walker can't move. He is on the verge of tears as the reality of what he had just done hits him. He had just killed someone to save Brendan. He had just saved the life of the man he hates or thought he hates. The tenderness of Brendan's action didn't help his emotions either.
Brendan walks swiftly out of the door and over to the bar. He needs a drink. Walker blinks away the tears and gets to his feet. The decision has been made, there is no going back now. He had just condemned himself to his own fate and that fate would be Brendan. His life was now entwined with Brendan's no matter what. Brendan would be his death.