Chapter 7: Tacoma
Something woke Deeks up from a sound sleep. He was instantly alert and somewhat disoriented. He cracked open his left eye, the right being buried in a pillow, and attempted to get his bearings. He was surprised to see a small figure standing by his bed. The sound he had heard was her pressing up against the covers trying to get a better look at him. He was enchanted by the sight of this moppet, her soft brown eyes and curly brown hair, styled by pillow, the same as his. He closed his eye and thought back to last night, or rather early this morning.
A very weary Marty Deeks got off the plane in Tacoma just after midnight. He was the last one off as he just hadn't had the energy to fight the crowd of people trying to squeeze off the plane as quickly as possible. When he reached the end of the ramp, he was surprised to see a man slightly older than himself holding a sign with Deeks on it. He hefted his duffel bag to a more comfortable position on his shoulder and headed over to him. "I'm Marty Deeks" he said.
The older man looked surprised and hesitated. "Detective Marty Deeks?" he asked, emphasizing the detective part. Marty just sighed and nodded his head. "Detective Stan Shuler" the other man said as he put out his hand.
Marty shook it and asked "Why are you here? I wasn't expecting anyone."
Shuler responded with "Call it professional courtesy. In light of the situation, I felt badly that you would be here alone. You know, you're not how I pictured you."
"I do mostly undercover work. Looking like a cop is a sure fire way to get dead." replied Deeks.
Stan Shuler looked at the younger man in front of him and decided he liked what he saw beneath the shaggy hair and scruff. "Come on with me, I'm parked out front. Do you have a hotel reservation?"
"No, I figured I'd just ask the cab driver for a clean, cheap place" Marty replied.
Shuler made a split second decision, one he hoped his wife would be okay with. "Good, that way we don't have to cancel it. You're coming home with me."
Marty was shocked into momentary silence. When he got his voice back he told Shuler he didn't want to impose and would be fine with a hotel room somewhere. Shuler just overrode him, telling him not to be silly, that they had a perfectly good spare bedroom. "Shuler, it's after midnight! I don't want to disrupt your whole household. I'll be fine at a hotel."
Stan looked at the very tired cop in front of him and said "Call me Stan."
"Call me Marty." responded Deeks. And that was the end of that. Deeks was too wiped out to fight about it and Stan was not going to take no for an answer anyway, so why continue to argue?
They made casual conversation on the way to Stan's house, the LA detective's eyes closing once or twice on the ride. When they pulled into the Shuler's driveway, Stan had to shake him awake. He had texted Cheryl that he was bringing Marty home to use the spare bedroom and she had been fine with that, even excited to have a visitor. She pulled the door open when she heard the car drive up. Like her husband, the shaggy haired young man who got out of the passenger seat was a surprise to her but her heart went out to him as she watched his dejected, tired walk up to the front door. When he reached her, he put out his hand and said "Detective Marty Deeks. Please to meet you Mrs. Shuler."
She reached out and pulled him into a hug. "Call me Cheryl. I am so sorry about your sister Marty" she said. She felt a shudder go through his body before he lifted his arms and returned the hug, surprised by the warm welcome he had received from both the Tacoma detective and his wife.
Once in the house, Cheryl offered him some food but he had eaten at the airport in LA while waiting for his flight and all he really needed was a bed. He was about to pass out on his feet. Cheryl and Stan walked him to the guest room and showed him where the bathroom was. They gave him clean towels and told him good night. He stored his bag, went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, walked back into the bedroom, pulled off his boots and lay down on the bed fully clothed. He was asleep in seconds.
Now that he remembered where he was and why, he slid a little closer to the edge and peeked over. His blue eyes met the startled ones of the child who could be no more than four or five. "Hi there" he said softly. He watched her indecision as to whether to reply or bolt from the room. "I'm Marty, are you Stan's sister?" he asked.
The little girl giggled and said "No silly, he's my daddy!"
"Really? How old are?" Marty responded.
"I'se four." she replied.
"Wow, I would have guessed at least eleven!"
She giggled again, then asked "Why are you sleeping in your clothes in the guestest room?"
Marty looked down and realized he was still fully clothed except for his boots. He had been more tired than he had realized if he was able to sleep in jeans all night. "I guess I was just tired. I'm a friend of your daddy's and he's letting me stay here for a couple days. What's your name and what do you do around here for fun?"
"Krissy. I like stories and I like to play with my zoo" was the soft reply.
"A zoo? Really? I love zoos! Would you show it to me?" he responded. She looked at him for a second and then put out her hand. He took it and got up from the bed.
She led him into what was obviously her play room. It was full of stuffed animals and books. She told him where to lie down and he did so, lying on his stomach, watching as the serious little girl gathered her menagerie. She carefully and methodically placed each animal in a semicircle around his position. When she was done, she got several books and brought them over to him. "Will you read to us?" she asked.
Marty melted into the floor. This little girl was so adorable. He asked her which book was her favorite and she pulled one out of the pile and handed it to him. "Where are you going to sit?" he asked her. She looked around the room realizing she hadn't made a space for herself. "I bet you'd have a great view of this book and can read along if you sit on my back" he suggested. She hesitated and then ran over to him, jumping on his back, earning an OOMPH from him that caused her to giggle again.
A short while later Stan was heading to the kitchen for his morning coffee when he heard a male voice and that of his four year old daughter coming from the play room. He peeked through the door and almost fell over seeing his shy little girl laying on Marty's back with her arms dangling on either side of his head while he read a book to her. Her head was pressed up against his ear and she laughed as Marty read the book in different voices and made noises where appropriate. He backed away from the door and went to get his phone (for the camera) and his wife (so she could see for herself). The two of them watched from the doorway, the LA detective and their child too wrapped up in each other to be aware of their presence. Stan took several pictures of the two of them together, even catching one where they were eye to eye talking seriously over some element or another from the children's book the detective was reading. He had never seen his daughter take to anyone so quickly. She was usually so shy and would hide behind either him or Cheryl when there were strangers around. Apparently his daughter was as taken with the younger man as he and his wife were.
Leaving them to their story time, Cheryl went to the kitchen and started making breakfast; Stan went back to the bedroom to dress for the workday. When everything was ready, Cheryl called upstairs for everyone to come and get it. Stan was the first down, followed by Krissy leading Marty to the kitchen so he wouldn't get "losted". "Good morning" said Marty as sat at the place set for him at the table. No sooner had he sat down then Krissy crawled up into his lap. Stan watched as the LA detective made room for his young daughter without appearing to even think about it. He still couldn't get over how natural the two of them were together.
"So, what are your plans for the day?" asked Stan.
Marty looked momentarily lost, he obviously had not thought that far in advance. "Um, I need to go to theā¦" he paused looking down at the little girl in his lap, changing his words to "I need to go see Janie. Then I think I'll head into downtown, take a look around, kill some time." he responded.
"I'll take you to see Janie on my way into work and then, why not come into work with me? Take a look around; see what our station looks like?" Stan offered. It really wasn't what he had planned to do today, but once made, the offer made sense. Marty could sign the necessary paperwork to release Janie's body to be taken to the airport for their flight. Then he could poke around, talk to some of his guys. If his first impression was anything to go by, most of the rest of his team would become his friends before the end of shift.
Marty stared at him as if gauging the sincerity of his offer, then nodded yes. "I'd be honored Stan."
