Chapter Twelve: A Walk on the Wild Side
"There's something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty."-Winston Churchill
Will's truck came to a stop outside of the high school. He threw the car in park and looked over at Tate.
"Well, guess it's time," Will said.
Tate sat in the passenger seat, her backpack filled with school supplies at her feet. It was Tate's first day at school, and Will's first day back at work. Even though she was 13, Tate had skipped a grade so she was in 9th grade, which didn't surprise Will at all. If there was anything he'd learned about her over the past week, it was that the kid was scary smart, and her memory rivaled Reid's.
"You'll be fine," he told Tate when she didn't respond.
"I know," she sighed, "I mean it's not my first time at a new school, but it just sucks,".
Due to her time in foster care, Tate had been to about seven schools over the years, this one being her eighth.
"What's the worst that could happen?" he joked.
"I know it's been like centuries since you've been to high school, but even you have to remember it's not exactly a barrel of laughs," Tate said.
"Oh no, it was definitely the best time of my life," Will responded sarcastically.
Tate rolled her eyes, and then looked at him for a moment, considering something.
"That's cause you were probably the popular jock or something".
Will laughed, then checked the clock, realizing he had to get going soon if he wanted to make it to work on time.
Noticing him looking at the time, Tate decided to stall.
"Baseball, it was definitely baseball," she said definitively.
Will shook his head at the girl. He swore she had profiling skills that could rival JJ's, as he knew for a fact he'd never told her he played baseball, and there were no pictures of him in the house that would indicate it.
"How do you do that?" he said, acknowledging that her stalling was definitely working.
"Well, you clearly didn't play basketball, you're too short," Tate began.
"Ouch," Will interrupted, pretending to be offended.
"It definitely wasn't football since your brain still functions. That pretty much leaves baseball or soccer as the sports that would make you popular, since no one plays hockey down here. We both know you can't play soccer to save your life, so that leaves baseball,".
Sadly, Tate's statement about Will playing soccer was dead on. She'd been dribbling a ball by herself in the backyard the other day, and when he decided to join her for a little game, she won in about three seconds.
As Tate finished her explanation, Will heard the bell ring inside.
"Oh, would you look at that, looks like it's time for someone to go to school," he said, reaching over Tate and throwing her door open.
Tate reluctantly climbed out and closed the door behind her, before turning around and leaning on the window.
"If this goes badly, I blame you," she said.
"Mhm, do me a favor and stay out of trouble, yeah?" Will responded.
"I actually promised other people I'd be on my worst behavior, and I gave them my word so…" Tate joked.
"You know, staying out of trouble actually involves you being on time to school," Will said, leaning forward and whispering it like it was a secret.
"Alright, alright, I'm going," Tate said. The girl turned and walked away, and Will waited until she was inside before pulling back out into the road.
As Will walked into the precinct, he noticed the captain and his partner, Andrew Benoit, having a conversation as they looked over a file.
Drew looked up, and noticed Will approaching them. "Well, look who it is. Have a nice little vacation, Willie?" Drew asked.
"Eh, it was alright. Cap, thanks for the personal time," Will said.
Captain Matthew Jones was a rather intimidating man, but Will had known him since he was a kid, and knew he was basically a softie. He was also the only person at the precinct so far that knew about Tate, since Will felt bad lying to the man and had to provide a reason for the time off.
Jones, or Jonesy, as the officers affectionately called him, greeted Will, before excusing himself to go work on something in his office. Before walking away, he nodded towards Drew, and Will knew he wanted him to tell Drew about Tate. Truth be told, Will was planning on telling Drew days ago, but he'd been busy and hadn't found the time.
He'd only been partners with Drew for a few months since Charlie died, but they'd worked on the force together for years, and he trusted him with his life. That trust came from the fact that there was an unspoken rule among partners, that they didn't lie to each other, and it was because of that rule that Will knew he had to tell Drew about Tate as soon as possible.
"Everything with the Jacobs case wrap up okay?" Drew asked, pulling Will out of his thoughts.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, all good, we got the guy".
"What else? You're clearly thinkin' about something," Drew said.
That was one thing Will appreciated about the man, he was never one to tiptoe around subjects.
"I sorta have a kid now," Will said, almost laughing as he saw the disbelief on Drew's face.
Will explained what had happened with the case, and how he'd ended up with Tate.
"Well, when exactly do I get to meet this kid, huh? I'm assuming Beck and Amelia already have".
"You and Nicki can meet her soon," Will promised. Nicki was Drew's fiance, and they were due to be married in July.
It was then time for the pair to actually get to work, and they quickly settled down at their desks to review their case files.
Tate let herself into the house using the key Will had given her a few days ago. Since Will didn't get off work till at least 5 o'clock most days, they'd decided Tate would just walk home in the afternoons.
Dropping her bag on the floor by the kitchen counter, she set about getting herself something to eat as a snack.
All in all, school hadn't been too horrible. Sure, it's not like she'd made any friends, but no one had been outright mean. Mostly they just ignored her, not that she could blame them. They were four months into the school year, and with only three weeks left until winter break, no one was looking to make any new friends.
Frankly, she was used to it by now. Although she'd had friends when she went to school in Dover, she'd never made many when she was in foster care. Most of the time, kids just liked to make fun of foster kids, and the ones that didn't never bothered to make friends, knowing there was a chance the foster kid would be moving in just a few months.
Tate texted a few of her friends from Dover, but didn't really expect them to respond. Whenever people moved away, everyone always promised to keep in touch, but she knew after a few weeks no one really reached out anymore.
It wasn't terribly upsetting to her that she virtually had no friends, but it got boring sometimes. Tate almost laughed at the irony of it. Here she was, in what was supposedly supposed to be one of the most exciting cities in America, and all she could do for fun was read or do homework.
Still, it wasn't like there was anything she could do about it, so after she finished her snack she settled down at the counter and started her homework.
At quarter past five, Tate heard the distinct sound of footsteps coming up the porch steps and of the door unlocking.
Will walked into the house, closing the door behind him and taking off his shoes.
"Tate?" he called.
"In the kitchen," he could hear her respond.
He headed into his room of the entryway to put his gun and badge in the safe in his closet before walking into the kitchen.
He could see Tate leaning over the island, working on what Will assumed was homework.
"So, how'd it go?" he asked, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge and unscrewing the cap.
"Alright," she said, glancing up at him before looking back down at her work.
As much as he wanted to avoid the totally cliche parent question of "meet any new friends?", he couldn't stop himself from asking.
"Did you make any friends?" he said, taking ingredients out of the fridge to start making dinner.
"A few," Tate lied.
It wasn't like she wanted to lie to Will, but she didn't want him to worry about her anymore than he already was. She'd already overheard him talking to JJ over the phone about sending her to see a psychologist, and she had a feeling her lack of friends would only motivate him to do so.
"Good. That's good," Will said. He might not be a profile, but he could tell the kid was lying to him. But still, it was her first day, so maybe tomorrow would be better.
The phone rang as he was carrying things from the fridge to the counter.
"Wanna grab that for me? It's probably JJ," he asked Tate, who nodded and hopped off her stool.
He turned around and set things down on the counter as Tate answered the phone.
"Hey, JJ," Tate said.
"Oh. Hey, Tate, how was school?" JJ responded after a moment of silence.
"It was fine, I guess". Tate could tell something was up with JJ, with the way she'd first said hello, she just couldn't figure out what.
"Listen, I only have a few minutes, and I kinda need to talk to Will about something. Could you put him on the phone?" JJ asked her.
Tate handed Will the phone, who now had his hands free after setting everything on the counter. She sat back down at the island and resumed her homework, curious as to what JJ had to talk to Will about. JJ usually called once she got off work, or when she got a free moment in the case, and she typically had at least a few minutes to talk to Tate before or after talking to Will.
Will left the kitchen and went into the office just off the living room that he rarely used. After about ten minutes, he came back out, and started working on dinner again.
Tate looked up at him, and noticed he seemed slightly pale.
"Everything alright? You look like you've seen a ghost," Tate asked concerned.
"What? Oh yeah, everything's fine," Will said, almost as if he hadn't heard her at first.
"What is it? You get JJ pregnant or something?" Tate joked, looking back down at her work to finish up her math homework.
When Will didn't respond with some sort of sarcastic remark that Tate was expecting, she looked back up at him. He was staring at her seriously, and suddenly it clicked.
"Oh," was all she could say.
"Yeah," Will replied, looking stunned.
Tate didn't know what to say, so she sat there for a few moments, watching Will until he seemed to shake himself out of his shock.
He turned back around and continued making dinner, almost as if nothing had happened.
Tate hesitated for a moment, not wanting to make Will mad. Whenever she'd seen her foster parents like this, all it took was one wrong mood to set them off. However, per usual, curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help herself.
"Is this a good thing?" she asked quietly.
She heard Will sigh, before he turned back around and looked at her, leaning on the island.
"Yeah, yeah I think it is. What do you think?".
"I'm just looking forward to seeing Beck blow his top when he finds out," Tate joked.
Will barked out a laugh. "What makes you think it won't be Amelia this time. After all, Beck got to lecture me last time around".
"Amelia stops and coos over every baby she sees on the street. If I were you, I'd be more worried about her stealing the kid then lecturing you about it," she quipped.
"Yeah, that's fair," Will said, running his hands through his hair.
He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer, gauging Tate's reaction. The first time he'd drank in front of her, she almost seemed to freeze, before pretending nothing had happened. Now, so long as he only drank one, she typically didn't seem to mind. And Will really needed a drink right about now.
After no response from Tate that he could see, Will went ahead and popped the cap.
Turning back around to finish dinner, since it was past 6 o'clock, Will heard Tate speak up from behind him.
"Maybe if you name it Becket it'll soften the blow".
He snorted, almost choking on his beer a little. Although they liked to joke, both Tate and Will knew Beck would be happy for Will. And despite the fact that he was slightly scared out of his mind, Will was excited. He didn't know it was possible until now to love something you hadn't met, but he knew right then and there that he'd do anything for the baby, his baby.
Glancing over at Tate doing her homework, and thinking about JJ halfway across the country, their baby safe and sound inside her, Will realized something. For the first time in ages, he was completely and utterly happy.
"We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."-Ronald Reagan.