Hey guys so I was scrolling through TikTok and the ending scene of 4.05 showed up on my timeline :/ and I kind of got inspired. This is something short because I should be studying for my Bio test but eh… anyway here we go.
He had an itch…on his nose. Instinct made him reach to itch it, but something was stopping him. He tried again and he heard the rattling. "Settle down back there" the person upfront yelled at him. He was quickly brought back to reality, he, Robert Sullivan, decorated Marine, former Fire Captain, Battalion Chief, and husband was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car. He just kept his head down, forgetting about the itch, he had bigger problems now.
He didn't look back up until the car stopped and the door opened. The officer roughly grabbed him and practically dragged him out of the car. He didn't say a word. When they walked through the precinct doors and to the back, he felt everyone's' eyes on him. Every officer, white, black, Hispanic, they were all staring at him. Some had smirks on their faces, others had looks of disappointment, he knew that look all too well. That's the look he had been getting for weeks after the news of his drug use got out. How could they be disappointed when they didn't even know what he was being accused of. He was taken to a back room where he came face to face with Dean, he refused to make eye contact with him as the officers searched them lifting his shirt, going in his pants pockets. The officer pulled out an envelope from his back pocket and began to open it. "Wait that's perso- "he didn't bother to finish once the officer tore open the envelope and pulled out the paper. He hung his head. "What is that" the other officer who was searching Dean asked. "It's a letter to his wife," the other said stifling a life. Robert had to take a deep breath just shaking his head. The two officers took both Robert and dean to a holding cell where they would stay for who knows how long.
Robert was angry. He knew it. He was sure Dean knew it. God, he was sure Dean felt similarly. He wasn't thinking. He saw his wife get pushed to the ground and he just reacted. Everything he had learned all the self-control he had learned growing up in Germany, and then being in Montana, Robert Sullivan had learned to deal with racists. But his wife, Andrea Herrera-Sullivan was pushed to the ground and he reacted and based on his protective instincts he was ready to fight back. He showed those officers the angry, easily agitated, aggressive black man they wanted to see. All those years of turning the other cheek and taking what was handed to him disappeared when he saw his wife on the road. And then there were the guns. The three guns pointed at him from three different directions. His wife still on the ground pleaded with him to surrender. Her voice will haunt him forever, "Robert, please…please" it replayed in his head over and over again. He was embarrassed. The entire team watched as guns were drawn on him and as he was handcuffed and shoved into the patrol car. He didn't even think about how much worse it will be for him than Dean. Not only because of his past and his drug use, but because he put hands on a police officer. Dean didn't touch anyone he was tackled before he could do anything but he actually pushed an officer to the ground. He knew the law pretty well. When he moved to Seattle the first time, he did his research. Assaulting a police officer is a class D felony. If he was convicted, he could get up to 20 years in prison if the officer claims that he was injured when Robert pushed him. Not to mention the fines he and Andy would have to pay. He was a probie he didn't make much definitely not as much as he did when he was Battalion or even Captain. And he knows how badly Andy wants for them to get a house together a place to call their own.
He was brought back from his thoughts when the door to the cell opened. He looked up and saw a female officer standing in front of him. "I saw you guys when they walked yall in. I saw that you were covered in soot so I brought some wipes, wet paper towels and dry ones to you can wipe your faces at least. I also brought some clean masks, I'm sure it isn't healthy to breath that stuff in." she said.
"Thank you, ma'am" Robert said and Dean echoed, both of them taking the item from the lady.
"You're welcome. When I see one of my own brought into the station, I make sure just to take a little extra care of them. God knows they most likely did nothing wrong," She said walking out and closing the door again.
The two got busy wiping the soot off of them, cleaning their faces and putting on the fresh masks. Robert looked over at Dean, but he didn't say anything and went back to looking down at his feet. Dean looked over at Robert, he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He looked back down to his feet for a minute before looking back up.
"I'm sorry man," he said looking over to Robert who slowly looked up but still couldn't make eye contact. "I'm sorry for the things I said during your first shift. Warren is right. We all make mistakes, and just because the world works like this doesn't mean that I have too."
"You were right. Everything you said was right. And I know I will probably never earn your respect or anyone on the teams respect back but I will never stop apologizing and never stop trying. I dropped my ball, because of pride. I had been alone and self-reliant for a very long time before coming back to Seattle. I didn't know how to ask for help, and when I finally did it was too late. I had already buried myself in a pretty big hole. I was going to go to Warren before he came to me but then Pruitt died and I had to be there for Andy. I couldn't leave her. Anyway, I'm still trying to make amends. I'm working the steps, I have a great sponsor, and I'm trying Miller I really am." Robert felt a really big weight being lifted off his shoulders. He finally got so many things off his chest. Things that he knew he could talk to Andy about but it felt different talking to someone else about it.
"I'm happy that you are trying. And again, I'm sorry for being so hard on you I, and I'm sorry for not showing up for you at your hearing. Whether I was upset or not, we are 19 and we show up for each other every single time. I'm also sorry about what happened with the officers and that letter back there. Clearly it was something personal for Andy," Dean replied.
"Thanks Miller. Let's just hope we can get out of here," Robert replied he chose not to comment on the contents of the letter he had written and rewritten every day that they were separated. There were several more sitting on Andy's nightstand in the apartment but that wasn't on his mind right now. He knew he had a long way to go before he would be on the good side of the team where they could accept him into their family. He knew he had a long way to go before he could earn their respect. He would work for that for the rest of his career, he owed that to himself and he wasn't about to let himself down.