Bad Kid

"What are you doing here?" Cassie asked, walking out to the front desk in the station where she noticed her father.

"I would like to report a crime." Punk nodded as Cassie folded her arms.

"It's a crime you leave the house looking like that." Cassie nodded as Punk folded his arms unhappily.

"What is wrong with me?" Punk asked, looking himself up and down.

"Your tooth is still missing, dad." Cassie hummed, walking over to the front desk as Punk scoffed.

"Ok, I'm seriously here to talk to someone about what's going on with your sister." Punk followed her over to the desk.

"You are?" Cassie asked, surprised. She heard her mother claim he was going to let the police do their job, but she didn't actually believe that.

"Yeah well… last time I got help from the cops they… they actually did help me." Punk nodded, "I was actually wondering if Karen is around? I like her, she's helpful." He nodded.

"She's not with this precinct anymore." Cassie shook her head, watching as Theo came into the station with two coffees.

"Here's decaf for the weird kid." Theo nodded, walking over to the desk and sitting Cassie's coffee down for her as Punk turned to him, assessing him and looking him up and down, "You punched in?"

"Yes, go away." Cassie nodded quickly.

"Good, I'm sick of having to report back on your stupid ass-"

Punk reached out and grabbed Theo's coffee from him suddenly as Cassie watched nervously.

"Excuse me?" Theo looked at Punk, having no idea who he actually was.

Punk walked over to the trash, throwing the full coffee in the trash and slamming the lid shut.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Theo exclaimed angrily.

"Oh my God." Cassie groaned, embarrassed as she placed her hand over her forehead.

"Why don't you take your stupid ass and get to work." Punk nodded to him.

"Theo, this is… my dad." Cassie explained as Theo looked at him.

"Yeah well your dad owes me a fucking coffee." Theo shook his head, looking at Punk who stared at him, backing away and walking off into the station.

"Why are you the way you are?" Cassie shook her head.

"What? You let him talk to you like that?" Punk asked with concern.

"It's just how he is." Cassie explained, "What are you actually here for?"

"What do you mean? I'm here to tell someone about this drug circle-"

"Yeah but… no offence, that's not really you. You're… dad. You do the wrong things all the time. This is very clearly the right thing." Cassie said, "Makes no sense." She said as Punk raised a brow.

"I know I can't handle this on my own. I'm no spring chicken." Punk said, "Colour yourself shocked because I… am doing the right thing." He nodded as she looked at him.

"What are you exactly going to say. You realise you can't just get cops to go arrest these guys. We need evidence. Which means we need Thea's statement." Cassie said.

"I'd really rather do this without her." Punk nodded, "Where's that bastard Hamilton?" He asked.

"That's who you wanna talk to?" Cassie shook her head.

"No, I just like watching him walk around all crippled." Punk nodded to her as Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Ok, I'll see who is free right now to talk to you. Just wait here. Don't touch anything." She warned as Punk nodded, watching her walk away into the back of the station.

He was all kinds of proud of her. She'd reached for something that had always been such a negative in their lives, and turned it into a positive. He saw the hard work she put in, the determination and perseverance. She definitely had the bravery and fearlessness of a cop, so it came as no surprise that she was thriving.

"Excuse me, I'm… looking for Cassie Brooks?" Daniel walked into the station, appearing at the desk beside Punk as he spoke to the lady behind the desk. Punk looked at him, wondering why an old man was asking for his daughter by full name.

"Who are you?" Punk said bluntly. He really had no filter. He would say what he felt whenever he wished.

"Excuse me?" Daniel turned to him.

"I said who are you?" Punk nodded.

"None of your damn business." Daniel scoffed as Punk stared at him.

"Oh, really? Cassie is my daughter. I think it is my business." Punk nodded to him as Daniel gulped, looking across at Punk with a different expression suddenly, "What?" Punk shook his head.

"I-I have to go." Daniel backed away in disbelief, looking at Punk who shook his head.

"What is with everyone today?" Punk turned to the lady behind the desk whilst Daniel had left the station.

"Ok, dad. I got someone." Cassie came back to the front of the station, "This is-"

"Cass some creepy old guy was here asking for you." Punk said.

"The man who was here yesterday." The lady behind the desk nodded to Cassie as she raised her eyebrows.

"Oh… my god." Cassie whispered to herself, "You…. You saw him?"

"Yeah and then he… left." Punk shook his head, unbothered as Cassie gulped.

"I'm detective Manson." The cop behind Cassie nodded, butting himself into the conversation and shaking Punk's hand, "But you can call me Jake." He said as Punk nodded, "I'm uh… I'm Cassie's boss." He smiled as Cassie nodded, trying to get herself together.

"Yeah, he's my boss." Cassie said, eyeing Punk with an expression of warning.

"Come this way and we can talk." Jake nodded to Punk, guiding him through some doors towards one of the interview rooms, "I just want to say Cassie is a terrific young girl. A great cop in the making."

"Yeah? I think so too." Punk nodded proudly.

"Ok, let's talk." Jake nodded, opening up the door to the interview room as Punk walked in. As the years went by, the police station was actually beginning to feel like a safe space to him for the first time. Not a place where he felt shamed and disrespected.

"Hey, mom." Jude smiled, watching her mother walk into her kitchen with lunch for them.

"Oh, hi baby." AJ smiled, happy to see her daughter, giving her a tight hug.

"Something smells good." Jude said with interest as AJ chuckled, sitting the food down on the table.

"Brought you your favourite sandwich." AJ smiled, "Sean working?"

"Yeah, he's been all over the place doing night shifts and then day shifts… he's got a couple days off next week, though. We're gonna go into town and start getting things for the nursery." She said.

"I thought you were painting it?" AJ asked her.

"Oh, I am. I mean like the crib and changing table-"

"Me and your father are gonna buy the crib. We told you this." AJ said.

"You did?" Jude wondered, sitting down at the table, unwrapping her sandwich.

"Yeah." AJ laughed a little, "Pregnancy brain got you." She nodded.

"You know what else has got me? Sneezing and pee coming out. What's that about?" Jude shook her head, "Is that normal?"

"Yeah, and it's all downhill from there too." AJ chuckled as Jude groaned, "At least you're getting boobs." She pointed out.

"I know!" Jude said excitedly, looking in her t-shirt, "I'm hoping they stay with me. I like having them." She nodded as AJ chuckled, "She's been kicking like crazy the past few days."

"That's good. She's healthy." AJ smiled as Jude nodded.

"Or she knows Aunt Thea is in trouble." Jude nodded as AJ looked across at her.

"Your dad has gone to the police right now." AJ said.

"What is he even going to tell them?" Jude shook her head.

"That he was assaulted and beaten up. That these men are dangerous and they're threatening Thea. He's got their addresses and names, idea of where they run around… hopefully the cops can make a move on it fast." AJ said, "I don't think Thea is in a very good place."

"I want to go see her." Jude sighed to herself as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, me too." AJ nodded, "But your dad is right, we shouldn't give these guys any opportunity to find out where she is." She said as Jude nodded.

"I don't want her to blame herself. She hasn't even done anything wrong." Jude shook her head.

"When you get involved with drugs… no matter if you're taking them, dealing them, supplying them… whatever… you open up that door to that world. It never really gets closed." AJ shook her head, "Stays wedged open. And you just wait… you wait for the next thing to push it back open for some mistake to get out and get you again." She said as Jude nodded.

"Doesn't sound too inviting." Jude nodded, "We've all got our baggage. We shouldn't be in danger or threatened by it. She wasn't a bad kid." She shook her head.

"No, she wasn't a bad kid." AJ agreed, "Not even close."

"Move." Sixteen year old AJ pushed her way into the girls bathroom in school, "Get out." She ordered to the few girls standing looking in the mirrors, watching as they panicked and quickly left the bathroom.

She knew what people thought of her. She didn't really care, but maybe in the back of her head, she cared a little. She heard the whispers. The rumours about her family. The names she was called. She definitely wasn't popular for the right reasons.

She crouched down at the closed cubicle, looking under to make sure she'd found who she was looking for.

"Chloe?" AJ checked.

"Yeah?" A nervous voice replied as AJ walked over to the sink, sitting up on it and waiting.

"Hey, I just wanna talk." AJ folded her arms.

"Oh." Chloe said, unlocking the cubicle door as AJ watched her come out. She was blonde, a sweetheart, kind and an all-round good person, "Hi." Chloe nodded a little nervously as AJ nodded to her.

"Hi." AJ mimicked, watching her washing her hands.

"You ok?" Chloe asked.

"I'm fine." AJ nodded, "I uh… I heard you asked Phil out on a date." She said as Chloe turned to her.

"You did?" Chloe asked, drying her hands on some paper towels.

"Yeah, word travels fast." AJ smiled, acting sweet.

"Yeah, I did." Chloe nodded, "He didn't really anything." She laughed a little, embarrassed.

"You like him? Or are you just trying to be the quirky popular girl who asks out the weird kid?" She asked.

"Well if I wanted to do that, I'd ask you out." Chloe teased, chuckling to herself as AJ watched her fixing her hair in the mirror.

"You like that mirror, huh?" AJ nodded, jumping off the sink.

"Why are you so bothered about me asking Phil out anyway?" Chloe asked.

"Because I'm dating him and you know I am." AJ said as Chloe nodded.

"Yeah well… we all need to upgrade every now and then." Chloe nodded as AJ watched her.

"Yeah, maybe your right." AJ smiled, stepping towards her as Chloe nodded.

AJ then suddenly grabbed her by the back of the neck, smashing her head into the mirror in front of her as it smashed into pieces, dragging her by the hair and throwing her into the cubicle.

It got bloody on both ends as they fought in the bathroom, with AJ doing most of the fighting, eventually dragging Chloe out of the bathroom in a bloody mess. She saw it as protecting her own feelings and nothing more.

She watched as other students in the corridor gasped and stopped what they were doing, watching as AJ dragged Chloe out of the girls bathroom.

AJ crouched down to Chloe, brushing her hair from her bloody face where the girl was crying.

Meanwhile Punk and Dean had come around the corner, pausing in their tracks when they saw the obvious fight which had taken place.

"Jesus Christ." Dean cringed as Punk looked over, "She's worse than you." He teased his brother as Punk looked over with concern, ignoring his brother.

"It's not much of an upgrade." AJ nodded.

"Get away from me!" Chloe yelled hysterically, holding her bloody face, trying to squirm away along the floor from AJ who stood up straight, looking around at everyone staring at her, turning around and noticing Punk and Dean looking over at her.

She wiped the blood from her own nose along her arm, walking down the corridor, keeping her eyes on Punk as he saw the unapologetic look on her face, one he mostly saw staring back at him in the mirror.

"Can't believe we missed it." Dean huffed, folding his arms with disappointment as Punk watched AJ walking past him with a smile on her face, heading away out of the school doors.