Episode 12

Brotherly Love

"So tell me. What the hell possessed you to handcuff yourself to the steering wheel?" He'd already officially lectured both of them, but had quickly dismissed Murtaugh, as he worried about his friend's heart condition. Riggs however, was a different matter. The reasons he worried about that man multiplied by the day.

"Cap, we had to make it look real! Angelo had to believe I was a crooked cop and that Dino used me to bust out the drugs." Martin had envied Roger when Avery had told him to get some rest. Then his captain had told him he wasn't dismissed yet. By then, he'd known what was coming - again.

"You need to stop overreacting," Martin told his captain in no uncertain terms. "You can't come down on me each time I do something you dislike. I'm a cop and drug busts are part of the deal!" Avery's concern was way out of proportion in his opinion.

"Handcuffing yourself to a wheel isn't part of a normal drug bust, Riggs!" Brooks was furious. After all these talks, he'd thought he'd gotten through to the Texan, but he'd been wrong. "And then, you lose the key and end up almost drowning!" At least, this time Riggs had put all the details in his report, but only after Murtaugh had edited Riggs' very brief report, forcing the Texan to rewrite the piece. Otherwise he would have omitted certain events again, Brooks was sure of that.

"I didn't drown, or almost drown! It wasn't as dramatic as you make it sound!" Martin was getting fed up with his captain's behavior. "I freed myself! I'm sitting here now, aren't I?" What was Avery getting riled up about? "Everything worked out fine! We got you Angelo, didn't we? He's finally off your bucket list, and I stand by what I said earlier; it's a sad bucket list. You need to work on that."

"You know what I'll never put on my bucket list? Attending your funeral, Riggs!" Brooks got to his feet and paced, letting off steam. "Is that what you're trying to achieve here? Make me bury you? When will you get it into that stubborn head of yours that stunts like that will get you killed?"

Martin cringed, once more reminding himself that Avery acted this way because the other man cared for him. "It's part of the job," he protested weakly, but yeah, he was reckless and his devil may care attitude frequently got him into danger.

"Handcuffing yourself to a fucking steering wheel isn't!" Avery ignored the attention their conversation drew now that he was practically shouting at Riggs, but he had to get through to the Texan. He really didn't want to bury Riggs because some stupid action had backfired! "Stop pulling stunts like that and we can stop having these conversations. But as long as you keep doing things like that, I'll call you on it!"

"Avery…" Martin whispered pleadingly while raising his hands in the hope to appease the older man.

"It's either captain or Brooks, don't Avery me!" He turned his back on his detective and glared at the wall. He had to calm down and counted to ten backwards, but it didn't work. His anger remained. He didn't want Riggs to die while under his command. He refused to bury the younger man; he had to keep him alive instead.

"Brooks," Martin said, once more trying to reassure his captain, "I honestly had no idea I would lose that key. I was already unlocking the handcuffs when I lost it. Please, I didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident." He read a lot of tension in the way his captain carried himself and realized more reassurance was necessary. Why was Avery making it this hard? Damn, he didn't want to do this. "Brooks?" he tried again.

Noticing a special tone to Riggs' voice, he turned around and stared at the Texan. "This had better be good." He knew Riggs didn't pull stunts like that on purpose, but these death-defying acts got on his nerves, which were already fragile where this pig-headed Texan were concerned.

"For what it's worth… I didn't want to drown. I could have given up, but I didn't. I swam to the surface instead of…" Instead of diving after his wedding ring. Last night he'd chosen life and he had no idea why. He'd finally gotten his wish; if he'd stopped struggling, he'd have drowned and he'd be dead now. He still didn't know what had made him fight. For some reason, he'd realized he had unfinished business, or maybe he'd found something to live for. He had no idea himself, which worried him.

"Martin," Brooks tried catching Riggs' attention as the other man seemed mesmerized. "I'm glad you made that decision."

Martin shrugged. "Don't know why I did." Why had he chosen life when his wish had finally been granted? Maybe a huge part of the reason why stood in front of him and looked at him with worried eyes. Fuck, when had he started to care about his captain?

"It really doesn't matter," Brooks said, trying to do away with the rising tension between them. He didn't know what was happening, but something was going on with Riggs; that much was obvious. The Texan seemed shocked.

"I'll try to be more careful," Martin promised, as he didn't want Avery to worry about him. Fuck, what was going on? Why did he care about his boss' feelings?

"Good, remember that promise, Martin. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get back to work." Brooks ended their conversation for a reason; he had the distinct impression Riggs needed time to think.

"Yeah, of course, cap." Lost in thought, Martin headed for the doorway. He was in the middle of an epiphany and had no idea what to make of it. His father, Nathan Riggs, was an abusive bastard, and yet, as a boy, he'd loved the man. Nathan had never returned that sentiment and had preferred to beat the crap out of him instead, had even tried to kill him one night. He shook his head; if only the confused thoughts and feelings would start to make sense!

Before stepping out of the office, Martin looked at Avery from over his shoulder. He'd never had a caring father figure in his life. Nathan Riggs was the exact opposite of what a loving father should be like, but Avery… He couldn't help but wonder if the captain worried about him like a father would about a son.

And that, was a scary thought.

TBC