Reflection
"So this is where we look in on the interviews that are going on." Theo explained as Cassie followed him into a control type room with some monitors which showed activity in the interviewing rooms, "Normally you'd get your higher ups in here, detectives, sergeants, captains… but, you never know when you might be asked to come in." He said.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah, take a seat." Theo nodded as Cassie looked at him, carefully sitting down on the chair, making sure he didn't pull it away from her as he chuckled a little.
"Gotta watch out for myself in here." Cassie mumbled.
"Ok, this button. Press it." Theo pointed, leaning over beside her.
"This one right here?" Cassie made sure.
"Yeah." Theo nodded as Cassie pressed the button, suddenly hearing sound coming from the monitors where some interviews were taking place.
"Oh, cool." Cassie said, hearing what was going on in the rooms.
"So normally it'll just be one or two people conducting the interviews so… if it's a high profile case we'll get a team back here, ready to go out and react quickly to whatever the interviewee has said. If they've dropped a name or any sort of information that we need to get quickly." Theo explained.
"Yeah, ok. Makes sense." Cassie nodded.
"To turn the sound back off you just click that button again." He said as she clicked the button, turning the sound off.
"Not too difficult." Cassie said.
"You also gotta make sure this red light is on here." He pointed to the system where the wires were all sitting, "This means that the interviews are being recorded. If that light isn't on, we lose that footage, which you don't want to do, believe me." Theo said.
"How do I make sure it's recording? What do I do if I come in and the red light isn't on?" Cassie asked.
"There's a switch at the side of the monitor there." He showed her as she turned her head round, "Just make sure the switch is down. It all gets recorded and logged onto that computer over there." He pointed as Cassie nodded.
"Ok. I can get my head around this." Cassie nodded confidently.
"Good." Theo said, taking a seat beside her in front of the monitors, "So how you been finding this? Honestly?" He asked her as she turned to him.
"Honestly?" Cassie asked as he nodded, "I go from feeling invisible to a piece of shit." She said.
"But you still show up every day." Theo pointed out.
"Yeah well… I worked hard to get here, and I love this. I don't care what people think, it's not gonna stop me." She shook her head as Theo nodded with a small smile. It was the first time he'd actually been nice to her.
"You have a good attitude. You're gonna be a good cop." He nodded truthfully.
"Oh, really? I thought I was too pretty to be a cop?" She questioned.
"Well…" Theo nodded to himself, "I had no idea about... what happened to you when you were younger. And your sister." Theo said.
"What about my sister?" Cassie said defensively.
"Well… she was raped." Theo nodded as Cassie looked at him.
"Are you looking into my family's records?" Cassie shook her head.
"I got curious after seeing a bunch of stuff come up when I typed your name in. I figured you'd came from a rough family but I didn't know it was… as bad as it was."
"I didn't come from a rough family." Cassie said, "I come from a good family. Who've taken care of me." She said, "It's other people that are the problem."
"Right." Theo nodded.
"You don't have to know my history to be nice to me. I don't want sympathy." Cassie shook her head.
"I know and I'm not giving you it but… not many fifteen year olds get kidnapped, twice. And held at gunpoint." Theo said as Cassie nodded.
"Well, they're missing out, it's so much fun." Cassie said sarcastically as Theo smiled a little.
"Is that why you wanted to be a cop?" He asked, "Did that light a spark in you?"
"I don't know if it was that entirely." Cassie said, "I don't know, I've always been super agitated. I'd never get an office job. I gotta be moving and I figured what's more chaotic than being a cop?" She shrugged.
"Yeah, it can get crazy around here." Theo nodded, "Not that I'm snooping on you or anything but I saw you had looked into some guy on the system. Daniel Brooks-"
"Clearly you're snooping." Cassie scoffed.
"No, you were just logged into my computer, so when I went in I saw what you had been looking at." Theo said.
"Oh." Cassie realised.
"You related to him?" Theo asked.
"I think he's my grandfather. It's kinda complicated." She said as Theo nodded.
"Well since you're my rookie, I gotta make sure you know that… you shouldn't really be looking into records and files that you don't have to. Especially from closed cases." He said.
"I figured." Cassie nodded, "Sorry." She shook her head.
"You're fine." Theo said.
"But… didn't you look into my family's files?" She questioned as he looked at her.
"Maybe I'll let you off the hook." Theo nodded as Cassie smiled.
"Yeah." Cassie agreed.
"I'm real sorry about what happened to your sister. It sounded awful." Theo said.
"It was." Cassie nodded, "Those people got what they deserved, though." She said as Theo nodded.
"Hey, so how does it feel with Thea moved away?" Dean asked, standing down at the docks with Punk.
"It's kinda strange, I guess. You know… knowing she's not just five minutes away anymore." Punk said, "But we're going to visit her at the weekend so it's not like we're not gonna see her." He said, "It might be good for them to have a fresh start. New place, new people around them." Punk shrugged.
"So you're not worried?" Dean asked.
"Worried about what?" Punk asked him as Dean looked across at him.
"Well it's… it's Thea." Dean said as Punk stared at him.
"Your point?" Punk asked, slightly angrily.
"Look, don't get all hot about it." Dean told him, "It's not like you don't know what she's like. She's not the most responsible."
"She's been clean for years, Dean." Punk shook his head, "She's a grown ass woman. With kids. She's not gonna relapse just because she's moved."
"I'm not saying she will." Dean said, "I'm just concerned for her, that's all."
"Well she's fine. They both are." Punk said as Dean nodded.
"How is AJ feeling about it all?" Dean asked him.
"I mean… she's sad about it but, Thea's got her own family now. And it's not a goodbye. She's just two hours away. An hour if I break a couple speed limits." Punk shrugged.
"Yeah, I know." Dean nodded, "How is Jude doing?" He asked as Punk nodded.
"She's good. Healthy." Punk nodded.
"Another girl?" Dean chuckled a little.
"Yeah, this is my karma." Punk nodded, "A whole bunch of women." He said as Dean chuckled.
"Let's hope this one isn't as insane as Sofia. That kid is crazy." Dean scoffed as Punk chuckled.
"Well she's just like her mom." Punk nodded.
"Too alike." Dean said as Punk chuckled, sitting down along the brick wall as Dean sat beside him, lighting up a cigarette.
"You think I should be worried about Thea?" Punk worried a little.
"Hey, no… no, don't listen to me. I'm just being worried for nothing." Dean said, "I know Thea has been clean for years." He said, "She'll be fine." He patted Punk's back as Punk nodded.
"I just realised this morning that I've been out of prison for… twelve years today." Punk nodded to himself.
"Has it been that long?" Dean thought to himself.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I feel like these past few years have been the best." He said, "Even before I went to prison, things were good but… there was always a worry. There was always something at the back of my head." He said, "Now everything just feels calm."
"It's called getting old, buddy." Dean nodded, "I feel it too."
"No, it's not an old thing. It's just… it's the first time I've ever felt peace in my life." Punk said, "My kids are all thriving. Me and Ape get to spend so much more time together. It's like we're teenagers again."
"You don't look like a teenager." Dean informed him as Punk nodded.
"Yeah, I got that." Punk assured him, "I just feel like things feel calm now."
"Well you're not worried about anything. It's not like we got people after us. Or we owe people anything." Dean said, "Like when we were kids." He shook his head.
Being older and wiser gave them a lot of time to reflect. It had been a crazy life, they'd seen and been through a hell of a lot. It almost felt strange for things to be so peaceful.
"Is it bad I'm kinda on edge waiting for something to go wrong?" Punk turned to Dean.
"I feel the same." Dean understood.
"So does April. We talk about it all the time." Punk said.
"I guess it's just the life we've lived." Dean said as Punk nodded, "It's nice not having to worry, though. Right?"
"Oh, I still got worries." Punk nodded.
"Yeah but they're just every day worries now. Not someone's trying to kill me and my family worries." Dean said as Punk nodded.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Punk nodded.
"You feel old?" Dean asked him.
"No, not really." Punk shook his head, "I don't know if it's because I was in prison for eight years that I… I feel like I should be younger than what I am, because I lost that time." He said.
"What about Ape?" Dean asked.
"I think what makes her feel old is seeing the girls get older. For the longest time Cassie was still our baby and now she's twenty-one and a cop." Punk shook his head, "I know that makes April feel old." Punk nodded.
"Yeah, a cop? Who would have thought?" Dean chuckled to himself.
"And she's damn good at it." Punk said as Dean nodded, "I think they give her a hard time at the station… because of us." He said, "Our reputation."
"That doesn't seem fair." Dean sighed.
"She doesn't take crap off anyone, though. She's got thick skin. All of them do." Punk said.
"When does she stop being a rookie?" Dean asked, "Maybe it's just a rookie thing. The teasing and tormenting."
"I think she's got another year of it." Punk nodded, "Then she's got more responsibility. She said once she's on better pay she'll start looking at apartments. I don't think April wants her to move out."
"Shit, that'll be all three of them gone." Dean said as Punk nodded, "Cassie seeing someone?"
"Like a boyfriend?" Punk asked as Dean nodded, "No. No, she's… she's actually never had a boyfriend. Well, not one that I know of." He said.
"She's still young." Dean shook his head.
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'm not mad about it." Punk chuckled, "She's pretty career driven." He nodded.
"That's a good thing." Dean said as Punk nodded, "Boys will always be around. Good careers? Not so much." He said as Punk nodded.
"I hope Thea is getting on ok with the new house. I think they had a lot of renovating to do." Punk said, "Remember when we moved into the new house when Thea was just a little kid?"
"I do, yeah." Dean nodded, "God, that still feels like it was yesterday." He said.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Punk nodded.
"She'll be fine. Her and Dominic are good together." Dean said, "It's probably a blessing that they both know addiction really well."
"Yeah, Thea as always said that to me. She couldn't imagine having a husband that didn't know what all of that felt like. I'm glad she has him. He's a good guy. Sean is too." Punk nodded.
"You think there's wedding bells on the horizon for Jude and Sean?" Dean asked.
"I don't know. I… I really didn't expect them to be having a baby or get married any time soon. It's not really Jude's frame, you know?" Punk said, "But she's… she's super happy and it's so good to see."
"Yeah, she deserves some good in her life." Dean sighed to himself, "Poor girl has been through it."
"Yeah, but you know how much she hates people saying that." Punk said.
"Yeah, I know." Dean said, "Just can't imagine it."
"I know she still struggles. And it kills me because there's really nothing you can do. It's my first time as a parent feeling like I literally can't make it better, at all." He said, "And I know what I'm feeling is nothing compared to what she must be feeling." He said.
"She's got good people around her." Dean nodded.
"Yeah." Punk agreed, "She always called Thea her free therapist so… I'm kinda worried now that Thea is gone she might just bottle it all up." He shook his head.
"No, she's got the rest of us too and she knows that. Plus Thea is just a phone call away or… facetime? Is that what they call it? Facetime?" Dean wondered.
"Something like that." Punk nodded, "We should probably get back to work." He nodded, looking out onto the docks which had developed and changed over the many years.
"Yeah, back to the grind." Dean nodded, jumping down from the wall as Punk did too, jumping on Dean's back as Dean almost fell over.
"How much do you weigh, dude?" Dean exaggerated, not being able to hold Punk off, "You gotta lay of those donuts." He said as Punk chuckled and shoved him forward, messing around just like when they were kids. Everything yet nothing had changed.