This is a work of fiction. No copyright infringement intended.
Hunter and its characters belong to someone like Stephen J Cannell
Unfinished Business originally written by Morgan Gendal
OK - we all saw Unfinished Business right? So why did it happen? And what happened after? It helps if you can pretend that nothing from Streetwise onwards happened, except maybe in our nightmares. ;)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - the whole story.
Chapter 12
Early the following morning Hunter pulled up outside Charlie's home. He didn't need to look in the rear view mirror to know that last night's lack of sleep was clearly etched across his face. He was exhausted. He'd spent the entire night going round and round in circles and running head first into the same brick wall every time. Yesterday's events had dug up all the feelings he'd spent three years trying to bury. Now he couldn't see any way forward, nor any way back. He was hoping Charlie could show him some alternative. As Charlie opened the door Hunter saw the look of surprise on his face quickly change to a frown of concern as he gave him a once-over. "Hunter? What's going on? You look like hell." "I know, Charlie. Can I come in?" Charlie stepped aside to let him in, then directed him into the living room. Harry lifted his head and regarded the intruder with an inscrutability Hunter had only ever seen before in his partner's eyes, before deciding he was of no interest and returning to his nap on the sofa. Hunter sat warily beside him. "So .?" Charlie prompted. Hunter sighed deeply, cautiously tickling Harry behind the ear was he tried to think of where to begin. "Do you remember the Fredericks case?" he asked at last. "How could I forget?" "Yeah, of course. Well, do you remember how McCall went to Quantico a few weeks later?" "Sure." "The night before she left we . I . we slept together." "I see. Does that have something to do with what's been going on between the two of you this week?" "Yeah. We never got around to talking about it while she was away - it was just too hard over the phone. And by the time she got back I'd managed to rationalise it myself - pretend it was just because of the Fredericks case, that if I just didn't think about it our partnership wouldn't have to change. I guess once she got back I kind of used Megan as a shield to avoid being alone with McCall, so we wouldn't have to talk about it." Charlie nodded, obviously putting the pieces together faster than either of them had. "So Lt Malone showing up again after that fracas at the warehouse kind of set off a ticking time bomb?" "Hell, yeah!" Why hadn't he seen the connection for himself? "So, now what?" H"So, now I can't see any way to avoid losing my partner!" "Hang on, hang on. Back up a minute here. Why do you assume you're gonna lose her?" Rick sighed and looked intently at his shoes. "Yesterday things were finally getting back to normal - I mean, we still needed to work some things out - but instead I ended up kissing her again. Now I don't know how I'm supposed to work beside her pretending that I don't want to do it again. At least last time I had six weeks to get the feeling under control." "Try that again and you'll end up right back where you've been all week. Providing you survive the initial explosion again." The mental picture of his usually even-tempered partner exploding in a fit of rage and taking him out with her gave him a momentary smile. "So what do I do?" "Do you love her?" And there lay the crux of his dilemma. Trust Charlie cut so easily through all his prevaricating. Against all his better judgement, despite everything he'd been trying to convince himself of for the past three years - longer, if he was being honest with himself - he was in love with his partner. "Yes." "And she feels the same." It was more a statement than a question. "Yeah, I think so." Self-doubt niggled at him. "I mean, I guess so ." Charlie cut him off with a chop of his hand. "Oh, come on Hunter! Of course she does! You can't be that blind!" Startled out of his slumber by Charlie's sudden outburst, Harry uncurled himself and gave both men a look of icy disdain before stalking huffily away to find somewhere quieter to sleep. Charlie continued in a quieter tone. "OK, you love her, she loves you. So where's the problem? Are you worried that the relationship might not work?" "Actually, no." Hunter was surprised to discover that this was the truth, but on some level he'd long suspected Dee Dee was 'the one'. "Well then what?" "For a start, McCall wants more from life than just being a cop. She wants a home, a family. I can't give her that. And I can't ask her to give up those dreams." "Surely that's her decision. She might not see it as giving something up. And you could change your mind." "Maybe. But there's still Steve standing between us." Charlie was puzzled. "What do you mean?" "A long time ago we had this conversation, out of the blue almost, about how she'd never get involved with a cop again. Losing Steve was too painful. 'He won't be a cop,' was what she said. At the time, I figured it as her way of telling me that we'd never be an item." "You said yourself that was a long time ago. Things have changed between the two of you, they have to have done after so many years of being partners. Whether or not you're a couple, losing each other would painful. She must realize that. Don't buy yourself more trouble than you've already got." "You're right. I know that." Charlie quirked an eyebrow. "But? I know you, Rick. I know there's more." "Well, OK then. There's this - me sitting here telling you all about it. If McCall and I do decide to take the risk you'll split us up. So any you look at it I lose my partner." Charlie frowned. "Why would I split the two of you up?" "Departmental rules. I mean, Visser and Reno ." "I think you should actually read the Department regs. Section 271 states that as long as a relationship doesn't involve the chain-of-command it's none of the department's business who you see in your private life. I'm assuming you and McCall are mature enough adults to keep your hands off each other during working hours?" Hunter nodded dumbly, then opened his mouth to protest again. Charlie cut him off. " . and as for Visser and Reno, getting caught by Commander Stone doing 'the wild thing' on the table in interrogation room 2 is not the way to keep things discrete." "You're kidding me!" Charlie shook his head. "So is that it? You run out of reasons why you can't be together? "Yeah. Thanks, Charlie." "So get out of here and go convince McCall." Hunter stood. "Can't I just send her over here. You're much better at this." Charlie opened the door. "Just get going. And remember - keep it quiet at work. I'm going to lose out on the office pool if anyone finds out you two aren't already a couple." "There's an office pool about me and McCall?" "Geez, Hunter! And you call yourself a detective? Now beat it. I want good news on Monday."
OK - we all saw Unfinished Business right? So why did it happen? And what happened after? It helps if you can pretend that nothing from Streetwise onwards happened, except maybe in our nightmares. ;)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - the whole story.
Chapter 12
Early the following morning Hunter pulled up outside Charlie's home. He didn't need to look in the rear view mirror to know that last night's lack of sleep was clearly etched across his face. He was exhausted. He'd spent the entire night going round and round in circles and running head first into the same brick wall every time. Yesterday's events had dug up all the feelings he'd spent three years trying to bury. Now he couldn't see any way forward, nor any way back. He was hoping Charlie could show him some alternative. As Charlie opened the door Hunter saw the look of surprise on his face quickly change to a frown of concern as he gave him a once-over. "Hunter? What's going on? You look like hell." "I know, Charlie. Can I come in?" Charlie stepped aside to let him in, then directed him into the living room. Harry lifted his head and regarded the intruder with an inscrutability Hunter had only ever seen before in his partner's eyes, before deciding he was of no interest and returning to his nap on the sofa. Hunter sat warily beside him. "So .?" Charlie prompted. Hunter sighed deeply, cautiously tickling Harry behind the ear was he tried to think of where to begin. "Do you remember the Fredericks case?" he asked at last. "How could I forget?" "Yeah, of course. Well, do you remember how McCall went to Quantico a few weeks later?" "Sure." "The night before she left we . I . we slept together." "I see. Does that have something to do with what's been going on between the two of you this week?" "Yeah. We never got around to talking about it while she was away - it was just too hard over the phone. And by the time she got back I'd managed to rationalise it myself - pretend it was just because of the Fredericks case, that if I just didn't think about it our partnership wouldn't have to change. I guess once she got back I kind of used Megan as a shield to avoid being alone with McCall, so we wouldn't have to talk about it." Charlie nodded, obviously putting the pieces together faster than either of them had. "So Lt Malone showing up again after that fracas at the warehouse kind of set off a ticking time bomb?" "Hell, yeah!" Why hadn't he seen the connection for himself? "So, now what?" H"So, now I can't see any way to avoid losing my partner!" "Hang on, hang on. Back up a minute here. Why do you assume you're gonna lose her?" Rick sighed and looked intently at his shoes. "Yesterday things were finally getting back to normal - I mean, we still needed to work some things out - but instead I ended up kissing her again. Now I don't know how I'm supposed to work beside her pretending that I don't want to do it again. At least last time I had six weeks to get the feeling under control." "Try that again and you'll end up right back where you've been all week. Providing you survive the initial explosion again." The mental picture of his usually even-tempered partner exploding in a fit of rage and taking him out with her gave him a momentary smile. "So what do I do?" "Do you love her?" And there lay the crux of his dilemma. Trust Charlie cut so easily through all his prevaricating. Against all his better judgement, despite everything he'd been trying to convince himself of for the past three years - longer, if he was being honest with himself - he was in love with his partner. "Yes." "And she feels the same." It was more a statement than a question. "Yeah, I think so." Self-doubt niggled at him. "I mean, I guess so ." Charlie cut him off with a chop of his hand. "Oh, come on Hunter! Of course she does! You can't be that blind!" Startled out of his slumber by Charlie's sudden outburst, Harry uncurled himself and gave both men a look of icy disdain before stalking huffily away to find somewhere quieter to sleep. Charlie continued in a quieter tone. "OK, you love her, she loves you. So where's the problem? Are you worried that the relationship might not work?" "Actually, no." Hunter was surprised to discover that this was the truth, but on some level he'd long suspected Dee Dee was 'the one'. "Well then what?" "For a start, McCall wants more from life than just being a cop. She wants a home, a family. I can't give her that. And I can't ask her to give up those dreams." "Surely that's her decision. She might not see it as giving something up. And you could change your mind." "Maybe. But there's still Steve standing between us." Charlie was puzzled. "What do you mean?" "A long time ago we had this conversation, out of the blue almost, about how she'd never get involved with a cop again. Losing Steve was too painful. 'He won't be a cop,' was what she said. At the time, I figured it as her way of telling me that we'd never be an item." "You said yourself that was a long time ago. Things have changed between the two of you, they have to have done after so many years of being partners. Whether or not you're a couple, losing each other would painful. She must realize that. Don't buy yourself more trouble than you've already got." "You're right. I know that." Charlie quirked an eyebrow. "But? I know you, Rick. I know there's more." "Well, OK then. There's this - me sitting here telling you all about it. If McCall and I do decide to take the risk you'll split us up. So any you look at it I lose my partner." Charlie frowned. "Why would I split the two of you up?" "Departmental rules. I mean, Visser and Reno ." "I think you should actually read the Department regs. Section 271 states that as long as a relationship doesn't involve the chain-of-command it's none of the department's business who you see in your private life. I'm assuming you and McCall are mature enough adults to keep your hands off each other during working hours?" Hunter nodded dumbly, then opened his mouth to protest again. Charlie cut him off. " . and as for Visser and Reno, getting caught by Commander Stone doing 'the wild thing' on the table in interrogation room 2 is not the way to keep things discrete." "You're kidding me!" Charlie shook his head. "So is that it? You run out of reasons why you can't be together? "Yeah. Thanks, Charlie." "So get out of here and go convince McCall." Hunter stood. "Can't I just send her over here. You're much better at this." Charlie opened the door. "Just get going. And remember - keep it quiet at work. I'm going to lose out on the office pool if anyone finds out you two aren't already a couple." "There's an office pool about me and McCall?" "Geez, Hunter! And you call yourself a detective? Now beat it. I want good news on Monday."