I don't claim ownership of anything- just the plot and my character Alex. Enjoy ;)
XXX
"Cam, keep an eye on Izzy," Jon called out to his son atop the play ground. His son Cameron nodded, grabbing a hold of Joe's daughter Isabelle's hand as the two went down the slide together.
"So how's everything going, man?" his best friend Joe asked as the two walked over to an empty bench in front of the play ground.
Jon shrugged, sighing as he took a seat first. It had been one hectic month of finally settling into an apartment basically having to learn what it's like to be on his own once again, thanks to his failed marriage. "It's going..." he mumbled.
Joe sat beside him, pushing his sunglasses atop his head. "How's Cam doing with everything?"he asked.
"He doesn't really know what's going on. He just thinks he has two homes... Lauren won't tell him about the divorce. She doesn't wanna confuse him or make him think he did something wrong."
"What about you? How're you doing with everything?"
Jon sighed, slouching on the bench as he ruffled his hair. "I haven't been on my own in what? Three years... It's fucking terrifying," he chuckled. That was the honest to God truth and he was sticking to it.
"You'll survive, man," Joe reassured with his hand on Jon's shoulder. "So since I last saw you... Have you thought about coming back any time soon?"
"I don't know," Jon said, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. "I mean I want to... I need something to do when I don't have Cam."
Joe nodded. "Well I didn't wanna tell you but a couple weeks ago, they reopened the Sandow case..."
Jon smirked, a slow chuckle escaping his lips feeling a sense of amusement wash over. His dear old obsession- The Goddamn Sandow case. "Of course they did... They're just tempting me with that one," he said.
"Come on man, we were so close to busting that asshole last time. The good old days, remember?"
Jon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, then someone apparently fucked up somewhere down the line and all charges were dropped, just like that. Shit, why are they even bothering this time?"
"Cause there's a new lead," Joe smiled.
"Really?" Jon asked with interest. Joe nodded, turning his attention to the laughter of their kids. He'd tried for months now to get his best friend back on the job. Just as Jon took a leave of absence to try and save his failing marriage, the Sandow case he grew obsessed with floundered which only made his impending divorce hurt even more. On top of losing his six month obsession, he ended up losing his family as well.
"So what are the new leads?" Jon asked. It had been a long five months away but maybe it was time to finally get back in the game and do the one thing he was damn good at: busting criminals.
"Not much other than some guy who goes by the alias King."
"That's all you know? Really?" Jon chuckled, feeling slightly disappointed. Now he understood why Joe had been pestering him for the last little bit. They really did need him back on the force, seeing as he was so close to putting Sandow behind bars.
Joe nodded, frustrated that was the only piece of evidence they had, if you could even call it that. "Obviously we can't do it without you, Jon. You got so submerged in the old case, and it was like you got in their heads and knew everything about anything. That's what we need, bro."
Jon sighed, standing to his feet as he stared down at his friend. "Did you forget that's why I got divorced?"
Joe stood up as well, motioning over to Isabella. "Just think about it, man... It's what you were good at. We can't do this shit alone and you know it. We're hopeless, man."
XXX
"How was school Kyles?" Alex asked as she held onto her daughter's hand. It was Monday afternoon and the two were walking home from school like they always did. The cool autumn breeze blew through the streets, ruffling the dried up fallen leaves scattered along the side walk they hurried down. But Alex quickened her pace, not really the biggest fan of the cold weather.
"It was good. We started another project today," Kylie started, reaching into her coat pocket to pull out a folded piece of paper. "And here. Mrs. Danielson gave this out today," she said, handing it to her mom.
Alex opened the paper, scanning the bold printed letters reading 'bring your parent to school day.'
"They want our parents to come in and talk about their jobs."
She felt her stomach drop. Like she could get away with explaining to seven year olds that mommy peels her off her clothes and grinds her ass against men for a living. "We can ask your dad," she was quick to say.
Kylie shook her head. "But I want you to come to the school, mom."
"Everybody knows what a waitress does, Kylie... I don't want to bore all you kids," Alex lied.
"Please, mommy," Kylie begged as they reached the apartment building. Alex laughed, unlocking the lobby door and nudging Kylie through. "We'll see," she lied again, leading to the mail boxes.
She riffled through the junk, pulling out yet more envelopes entitled 'Jonathan Shaw.'
"Why do we keep getting their mail?" Alex asked to herself, closing and locking the box. Kylie grabbed the envelopes, recognizing the printed last name.
"There's a boy in my class with the same last name," she stated.
"Maybe I can send you to school with all their mail then since our mailman can't do his job right," Alex teased. The two took the elevator up to their floor, exiting through the opened doors. Down the hall, Alex saw this 'Jonathan Shaw' standing in front of his door with a little boy at his side, who was basically his spitting image.
"That's the boy in my class, mommy," Kylie said quietly, looking up at her mom.
"Hi Kylie," the little boy called out, his father looking in their direction.
Alex smiled as she slowly approached, grabbing the envelopes from Kylie's hands. "Jonathan Shaw?" She asked as she stood in front of him.
The man smiled, nodding his head as he looked at the envelopes. "Again? Someone should really fire this guy," he chuckled.
Alex smiled again. "A John something used to live in our apartment before us... We can just blame it on that."
He chuckled as she handed him the envelopes. "Thanks, uh?"
"Alex," she filled in.
"And who's this?" Jon asked, looking at the shy little girl hung off of Alex's arm.
"This is Kylie."
"She's in my class," the little boy said to his dad.
"This is Cameron," Jon pointed to Alex.
"It's nice to meet you Cam," she smiled. He smiled back, pulling at his dad's hand anxiously.
"We should probably get going. Kid's got hockey practice... But it was nice meeting you guys," Jon said, grabbing the gigantic bag of hockey equipment from the ground.
"Yeah, you too. Have fun," Alex said with a smile. She continued down the hall with Kylie in tow, reaching their door as Jon and Cam headed for the elevator, watching as their neighbours entered the apartment.
"Mommy, that's the boy I'm doing the project with," Kylie said as she closed their front door.
XXX
"Welcome back Shaw," Antonio greeted, patting his friend on the shoulder. The two stood in the debriefing room awaiting Sergeant Hunter to inform them of the new development involving the Sandow case and to bring Jon up to speed... Even though they really only had one suspect at this point.
"He's finally back," Joe chuckled, handing the two coffees.
"Yeah, yeah... I'm back ladies," Jon nodded, sitting down at the empty table. "Looks like you guys need me seeing as you only have the guy's alias and nothing else... Fucking figures," he rasped, staring at Joe with a displeased look across his face.
"Hey, that's why you're here man. We need all the help we can get," Joe said.
"Not that I'm being a buzz kill or anything," Antonio started, "But does he know about Tyson's bachelor party coming up?" He asked, pointing his finger in Jon's direction.
Jon smirked, his tongue nearly hanging from his mouth. "Sounds like a welcome back party to me."
"Man, we're trying to take down a drug lord and all you're worried about is if Shaw knows were going out for beer and strippers," Joe chuckled.
"What? I couldn't resist, you know that. So are you in?" Antonio asked, a glimmer of hope twisted in his words. "Common' man."
Jon snorted, like it was even a question that needed to be asked. "You gotta ask me twice?"
Antonio smiled, pounding his fist against Jon's as Sergeant Hunter walked through the door. "Shaw, it's good to finally have you back."
"Good to be back Hunter. So what do you got for me?" he asked.
Sarg threw the familiar case file in the centre of the table with a sigh. He was just as frustrated as the men he assigned to this shit show. "Not a whole lot. That's why I'm glad you're back so you can help these two wack jobs take these assholes down."
Joe and Antonio's expressions dropped. "We're right here, Serg."
"That was the point," he stated with a laugh. "We got the evidence from the original case including our new suspect. Only problem is we can only identify him by his alias, as you may already know."
"Who the hell is this King?" Jon mumbled, flipping through the file he grew so familiar with, he really didn't have to read the evidence over.
Hunter nodded. "He's been pretty good at keeping a low profile during his meets with gangs. We can never get a good shot of his face. The last couple times we had stake outs he was always wearing a mask, but we definitely know he's the one they send for the drug runs, or anything illegal for that matter. We suspect he's working with Damien since the potency and packaging we've seized from the trades is a perfect match. Other than that, we know nothing else... But like I said, I'm glad you're back. I expect nothing but the best, Shaw. Don't let me down, son."
Jon smirked, a familiar giddy feeling coursing through his veins. It was good to finally be back. "You got it Sir."
