MEMORIES BROUGHT BACK

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Takes place at the end of "Lift Each Other" before Matt goes home. Yes, I'm pretending that the Matt/Gabby scene happens much later at night. Belongs to NBC and Dick Wolf. I own nothing.

Kelly sighed as his fiddled with the pencil at his desk. Damn…he thought to himself and then jumped as he heard a knock.

"Come in," he called, turning around in the chair.

"Hey, thought I'd check up on you. You've been quiet since the call with the pedestrian," Matt commented as he walked in.

"Yeah, I'm okay," the other lieutenant replied with a shrug. "It just…brought some stuff back."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"The look James had…when those two guys started fighting…I recognized that look." Matt nodded and closed the door, leaning against it. Something was going on, he could sense it. And whatever it was, it was hard for Kelly. Don't push him. Let him go at his own pace, he thought to himself. "Hell, I had that look." The Truck Lieutenant froze. Abused. Kelly had been abused?

"Your dad?" Kelly shook his head.

"Mom. She and Dad would argue. She started drinking and…" He paused, his eyes clouding and he turned around.

"Oh, Kell." Damn….I never knew he had been through that, he thought to himself. But when he thought about it, it did make sense. For all his bluster and his tendency to get into a person's face, he generally didn't like confrontation and would actually back down pretty easily. He also seemed to be a people pleaser at times, as if he didn't want to make waves.

"It was just easier to placate her. Or ignore her."
"Did your Dad ever know?"

"He worked a lot and was busy with his girlfriend. I wasn't gonna bug him with it."

"Oh Kell." Kelly shrugged.

"Look, I've dealt with it and moved on. I just…sometimes things remind me of what I've been through," he told him and the other man nodded, though he didn't look convinced. Knowing Kelly, he hasn't told anyone jack, he thought to himself. The guy really did have a bad habit of keeping important stuff to himself.

"Hey, what do you say we go grab a drink?"

"Matt." Don't need to talk about anything. I'm fine, he thought to himself.

"No talking. Just drinking. Promise." Kelly nodded.

"Sure." With that, they headed out.