A/N: So I don't think there's going to be many readers, unfortunately there's not many works for the Hot Fuzz fandom and it's such a shame. This movie is brilliant (and has been my favorite for years).
So anyway, I love the Andies, so much. Yes they are dickheads but... i love them don't blame me.
Of course, there will be Nicholas and Danny together, it is canon and we love them amirite.
I was writing the story for myself, thinking no one would ever read it anyway but... why not post it and see what happens. I hope you'll like it.
IMPORTANT: english is NOT my native language (which is French) so I'm really sorry if the spelling is American, or things like that. I just want to write a story about a ship I love, giving the characters backstories, etc. I'm only doing that because that's what I like to do.
ALSO. I live for angst. So sorry about that.
If there was one of his colleague Nicholas still had a hard time getting along with, it was definitely Andy. Not The Andies, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't Wainwright. But even a year after the events in Sandford, Andrew Cartwright was still the one cop in the new station he knew the least.
It wasn't like Nicholas was trying his hardest to spend time with him and become his friend, but still. The team was often hanging out in the pub, and they had definitely become closer soon after the whole incident.
Even Wainwright's snide remarks had become jokes, and Nicholas had been able to have real conversations with him more than once.
And it wasn't like Andy was trying to be obnoxious or avoid getting close, he was just… quiet. Quieter, also calmer than Wainwright, without being totally silent either. He just seemed to not like talking about himself, and most of the time, he'd talk when addressed to, or to joke around with Andrew. Or maybe calmer wasn't the right word. He just seemed to do most things lazily, unless he was really getting into it. As if Andrew had more energy than him, or as if sometimes, he was pulling the weight of the world behind him when he was walking. It seemed hard to coax the cold out of him. If Wainwright was more aggressive, Cartwright was definitely more contemptuous.
Andy wasn't apathetic, at least not all the time. Nicholas had only noticed him staring into space a few times, and once that was done, and for the rest of the day, he'd act this way. But he had also seen him get into lively conversations with his best friend, making him laugh and talking a whole bunch.
.
Sometimes, Nicholas was just wondering about him. Like that very evening in the station.
Discovering more about his colleagues over the last year, he had learned about some of their little traditions. One of them was for the birthdays. At first, for Danny's birthday, Nicholas had thought it had only been Frank's idea for his son. But later that year, for Doris' birthday, they had done the same thing, and so on and so forth. Despite not really being into the celebrations, the Andies were participating. After all, they were kind of a family. The only time Cartwright seemed more into it was for Andy's birthday, on the 7th of May. Roughly a month later, it had been Danny's birthday. The year had gone so fast. And now, it was about to be Andrew Cartwright's birthday. It was exactly a month after Danny's, but this time, Nicholas hadn't noticed any talk about a cake or a gift they could give him. Not even from Wainwright.
The year before, with the shootout, they hadn't celebrated Andy's birthday. He had actually been out of the little town with his father at that moment. Nicholas had thought he just wanted to celebrate it with him, far from all the trouble, just to have a moment of peace. He had wished him a happy birthday after he came back, only to receive a glance and a small nod, and he wasn't sure if Andy had been annoyed or not. He thought that maybe, he was still a bit shaken up by all the events, most of the town still was. This year, he thought it would be different. And yet, no one seemed to care about his birthday. He didn't really asked questions, the only time he tried to ask Danny, his partner had told him that he didn't have to worry about it, that it was normal. But he had definitely looked a bit uncomfortable. Nicholas hadn't pressed the matter.
And that evening, in the station, he was in his office, working on some paperwork, when Danny came in.
"We're ready to head out to the pub, you comin'?" he asked with a smile. Nicholas looked up for a second, thinking. Maybe this could wait until tomorrow. Danny walked in the office. "Come on, come with us!" he insisted, "Switch off! I'll pay you the first drink!"
Nicholas let out a quiet laugh as he put his pen down.
"Alright," he said as he stood up. "But only because you're offering," he said as if it mattered. As he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, he heard knocking. Both Danny and Nicholas looked at the door, only to see Andy, one hand in his pocket, the other still with the back of his finger against the door. He looked a bit pale, he was probably just tired. Behind him, they could see the small group of cops head out with the three new recruits, expect for the second Andy, who stayed somehow near the office, but not close enough for him to actually hear the conversation.
"Sir," Andy said, slightly turning his head to look away as if he was disinterested. He wasn't calling Nicholas "sir" very often.
"Oh, right, you wanted to see me," Nicholas suddenly recalled. "Please, come in," he said, slightly waving his hand to invite him in. Andy took a deep breath but didn't sigh as he walked in, now both hands in his pockets. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Nicholas asked, walking in front of his desk and slightly leaning against it as he crossed his arms. Andy first looked at him before his gaze slowly drifted on Danny, who was still behind the desk. He stared for a moment, waiting for Butterman to get the hint. After a few seconds, Nicholas turned his head to look at Danny too. The Sergeant, very curious about the conversation, finally reacted.
"Oh, right! 'will be waiting for you outside," he said, quickly getting out of the office. Yet, outside seemed to mean outside the office, not outside of the station. The left corner of Nicholas' lips slightly curled up as he knew Danny was letting his curiosity take the best of him, staying near enough to try and hear the conversation without being obvious. Andy didn't seem to care, at that point, and Nicholas knew that if what he really wanted was privacy, he would either tell Danny so, or directly close the door.
"What is it, Andy?" Nicholas asked again, now focusing on him.
"I know you ain't Butterman," he started saying with a drawl, taking a step towards Nicholas who just looked down for a second. He didn't really like to think about Frank. "But… every year, he'd let me go back to my old village to visit my family for… my birthday," he said, looking away and getting one hand out of his pockets to wave it in a way of saying "or wathever". Nicholas was a bit surprised. So, it wasn't just an improvised little road trip with his father, he was doing that every year. "It's not this week-end, it's-"
"Next week-end. I know when your birthday is," Nicholas said, interrupting him, as to say that he didn't have to explain the situation more to him. It was kind, though, as he slightly smiled when he finally met Andy's eyes again. "That's why we don't celebrate it here, I suppose? You know, it's no bother, we can still do something for you when you come back, you shouldn't be exempt from a little celebration if even Andy has to go through it every year."
Andy didn't seem to find it funny, or at least he didn't show it at that very moment. He just slightly looked down again, visibly a bit anxious as he clenched his teeth.
"I don't need-" he started rather quickly, a bit nervous, before he glanced at Nicholas again. His boss was slightly frowning. "It's fine. I don't even celebrate it, really, I just want… my week-end off. It's not like there's a lot going on lately." he said more calmly. It only made Nicholas' frown more visible.
"You don't celebrate your birthday? How come?" he asked. Andy didn't answer, he just looked kind of frustrated and Nicholas pursed his lips for a second. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. It's a bit on short notice, you realize that?"
"If it's about the shifts, I can… do more hours or whatever, take care of the paperwork and just…" he stopped himself from sighing as he closed his eyes for a second. He seemed to be about to say something, but he didn't, as if he could hardly stop himself from insisting more. "Whatever," he sighed, giving up already, "just let me know."
Nicholas watched him turn around and walk out the office, completely taken aback by the exchange. He didn't move for a moment, he only stared as Andy walked past Danny to reach his best friend. He walked past him as well, Wainwright directly following him. He gave a tap on Andy's back before putting his hand on his shoulders, walking behind him as they got out, Cartwright taking his cigarettes out of his pocket.
Danny was also watching them before slowly walking back into Nicholas office, staying near the door.
"D'you think you'll find time for him to go then?" he asked. Nicholas finally looked at him, getting out of his thoughts.
"Um… I don't know, Danny," he said, finally walking around his desk again to open a drawer and get some papers out to check the shifts.
"I'm sure you could find a way," Danny said timidly as he walked further in, trying to glance at the papers as well. Nicholas looked up.
"Danny, is there something going on that I should know about?" he finally asked, getting a bit impatient. If even he was insisting… Danny only shrugged before talking again, looking at his hands, fiddling with his fingers.
"I-I just think… he shouldn't miss a tradition, right? He's been doing that for twenty years, I mean," Danny explained without looking at Nicholas who frowned a little.
"He's never missed it? In twenty years?"
"Twenty-one, if we count this year," Danny said more quietly. The frown on Nicholas face wasn't going away, indicating that Danny had to go on. "It's a pretty important week-end, from what I know… Or… a pretty important date."
"He doesn't even celebrate it," Nicholas said, straightening up as he pushed his papers away, solely focusing on what Danny was saying, certain that he was talking about his birthday.
"It's just… I don't know if…" Again, he was visibly uncomfortable, like that other time Nicholas had asked about Andy's birthday. "You can't tell him I've told you," Danny quickly said.
"Alright," Nicholas said directly, just wanting to know what was happening on that week-end exactly. If it was that important, he'd find a way to let Andy go.
"It's… about his mom," Danny finally said quietly as he looked at his fingers again. Nicholas crossed his arms again, moving to sit on the side of his desk, but still facing Danny. "She… passed away the same day."
"What?" Nicholas let out in a whisper, his gaze drifting down as he stared at nothing, taken aback.
"Yeah, I just know she was sick," Danny continued. "I think it was cancer, and they couldn't do anything. That's when he moved in Sandford with his dad, he was thirteen. His dad grew up here, so I guess it made sense." Nicholas finally looked at him again, feeling suddenly a bit overwhelmed. There was a moment of silence, that seemed to be longer than it actually was.
"S'always been quiet, Andy," Danny added even more quietly, as if he knew he probably shouldn't be talking about all this. "I remember the first time I saw him… Was in front of the farm, you know, his father sells apples and all that. They moved right next to it and they were getting the boxes in, Andy wasn't helping, don't think he really wanted to be here to be honest," Danny said, laughing a little. It could have seemed insensitive, but it was a nervous and short laughter, because he was picturing the memory in his mind again and felt uncomfortable. He looked down. "I thought maybe… maybe we could be friends, you know. But, um, he met Andy, who's always been a bit of a twat, right, and they've been inseparable ever since."
Inseparable, huh? Nicholas looked away again, at the floor of his office, at the door, at the corner of the room the Andies had disappeared behind a few minutes before.
"That's why we don't talk about it," Nicholas said, not exactly asking, because he knew the answer, but still wanting to know a bit more.
"Yeah, I should have told you, really, I just didn't think about it with all the shit that went down last year…" Nicholas took a deep breath and sighed.
"I understand," he said. He looked at Danny again. "So, every year they return to where he lived before?" Danny quickly nodded.
"I just know 'cause I heard dad talking about it once, years ago, sometime after the Andies were hired, 'cause there was an incident…" he said, not going into details about it. "His grandparents are still there. His mom's parents, I mean. They own a pub, and they just go see them every year. I think he does whenever he's taking entire week-ends off. No one talks about it around here, we just know better, it… it upsets him," he said, thinking about the incident he had mentioned, something that had happened in the station years ago and that had almost got Andy fired. Since then, none of his colleagues had ever mentioned his birthday again.
Again, Nicholas nodded before he stood up, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder for a short moment.
"Thank you, Danny," he said. His partner gave him a smile and Nicholas finally put his jacket on. "Let's go join everyone. I'll let Andy know that he's free to go."
.
When they got out of the station, they could see that the Andies had already left for the pub, while the rest of the little group had been walking more slowly and were still visible from where they were standing. They stayed behind, following them and enjoying some time by themselves. They finally reached the group in front of the pub and they all entered it. Nicholas quickly spotted the Andies near the bar, already with a drink in their hands, cigarettes between their lips. Everyone got a seat while Nicholas approached the duo.
"Andy," he said, getting both their attention. "You've got your week-end off," he added, stopping near them. Andy raised his eyebrows for a second, surprised he got his answer so fast and at first, he only nodded. "I'll need you to do as you said, a few more hours so that everything's in order, but it's all good," he explained.
"Yeah, sure," Andy simply said, still a bit surprised. It wasn't that Nicholas was mean or too severe with them, but he was kind of rigid when it came to work. Andy emptied his glass, slightly raised it as to show that he had to go, and he walked away towards the bar to get another beer.
As he handed his pint and waited for another one, hands on the edge of the counter, he turned his head to look at Danny, who was already sitting with the others. Danny was watching him and he met his eyes for a second. Butterman gave him a small smile that Andy didn't give back as he looked in front of him again.
"Good thing you did there," Wainwright told Nicholas who was still staring at Andy.
"I've heard it's a tradition so," Nicholas simply said. Andy looked at him for a moment before he walked past his chief, giving him a tap on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Nick," he said. "I'm sure he appreciates."
Then, Andy approached his best friend, also giving his pint to the man behind the bar and asking for another one. He leaned against the counter, glancing at the table where their colleagues were talking and laughing.
"You all right?" Andrew asked. Andy looked at him out of the corner of his eyes before taking a sip of his beer.
"Yeah."
Andrew didn't say anything, at first, he kept looking at their colleagues before finally looking at Andy.
"You sure?"
"What did I just tell you?" Andy asked quickly.
"Snappy," Andrew said with a smirk. Andy shook his head.
"Just tired," he sighed.
"I can see that." When Andy glanced at his partner again, Andrew simply pointed at his own face. "You look like you've just walked out of a grave."
"Whatever," Andy mumbled as he got his lighter out to light up another cigarette. They both had always smoked a lot, but lately, Andrew could see that Andy looked nervous and was smoking one cigarette after another.
"Y'know, if you wanna talk about it," Andrew began, getting another side glance from Andy.
"I know," he simply said as to end the conversation.
