Title: The Anniversary (3/?)
Author: Lynne Facella
Category: Drama/Angst
Email: lynne1919@aol.com
Spoilers: Through current season 4
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero. I wish they were mine but unfortunately they're not.
Summary: The anniversary of his father's death hits Ty in a way he never could have imagined.
Author's notes: Thanks for the nice comments I've gotten. :) I'm not really sure where any of this came from, but it somehow got into my head and I'm glad you like it.
******
Ty stared back at his father, unsure he wanted to even know the answer to his question. "How exactly do we do that? Discover my fate?"
"Well the first thing we'll do is look at your life up until now.
"What do you mean? Is this like 'A Christmas Carol' or something? Am I supposed to be Ebeneezer Scrooge?" Ty asked with a grin.
His father shook his head, allowing a small smile to form on his lips. "No...you don't have to worry about that. Come on, follow me."
Ty cast one last stricken look at the sorrowful group in the waiting room and followed after his father.
"Recognize this building?" his father asked a few moments later as an image, seemingly from nowhere, came before them.
"Yeah...that's my elementary school," Ty said, innumerable memories coming into his head as he looked at the building. "It burned down around 10 years ago or so." His eyes moved towards the playground and he inhaled sharply as he saw himself as a boy. He'd always been tall for his age and in high demand on the basketball court even at the tender age of nine.
"Alright Ty!" Jerome Andrews gave Ty a high five after Ty got his third basket in a row. "You're gonna be in the NBA someday!"
"Yep, I'm gonna be the next Michael Jordan!" Ty bragged, a huge smile on his face. "And I'll give you all free tickets when my team comes to town. I can hear the announcer now. Number 99 Tyroooooone Davis!"
"You ain't ever gonna be in the NBA," Sammy Ellis, a 10-year-old with a penchant for trouble scowled. "It's really hard to make it and you ain't good enough. My dad says so."
"Why's your dad talking about me anyhow?" Ty asked angrily. "He should mind his own business."
"My dad can say whatever he damn pleases. It's a free country."
"You better watch it, Sammy" Jerome said, glaring at the other boy. "Ty's dad is a cop. He can fix your dad good if he wants to."
"My dad ain't afraid of no cops," Sammy stated defiantly. "My dad says cops suck. Always sending innocent people to jail while they let the crooks run free."
"That's not true. You take that back!" Ty shoved Sammy as hard as he could, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
"Fight! Fight!" The other children in the schoolyard came running to see the show as Ty and Sammy went at it.
"My father's a great cop!" Ty screamed as he managed to get a well-aimed punch to connect with Sammy's nose. "Maybe your dad's just a dirty crook and that's why he hates cops so much."
"Is not!" Sammy pummeled Ty's stomach with his fists. "My dad's better than your dad will ever be."
"TYRONE DAVIS!" The two boys froze and Ty looked fearfully up into the face of his father who was standing over them.
"Hi dad," he mumbled, hastily getting to his feet and brushing the dirt off his clothes.
"Sammy, I suggest you go home. Ty, you're coming with me." The group of children scattered at the sight of a police officer and Ty's father led him out to the street alongside the playground. The RMP was parked with Sully patiently waiting inside. "Get in."
Ty climbed into the back seat, his heart beating rapidly. He knew his father didn't like him fighting, but Sammy had just made him so mad. "Hi, Officer Sullivan," he said, biting his lip as his father got in the front passenger side of the car.
"Hello there, Ty," Sully replied, managing not to smile at the boy.
"Ty...what was going on back there?" his father asked sternly. "You know how I feel about fighting."
"I know, but, he was saying bad things about cops," Ty protested quickly. "He said his dad said cops let crooks run free and put good people in jail and he said his dad is better than you."
"You're going to hear a lot of things you don't like in your life. Sully and I hear those kinds of things all the time, son. Plain truth of the matter is a lot of people don't like cops. They're scared of them or they think like Sammy's dad does. You just have to let it roll off you though. You can't go around fighting with people just because they say things like that."
"But, dad!"
"No buts, Ty...I mean it. I don't want to see you fighting like that again, okay? Now Sully and I are going to swing you home. It's getting near suppertime anyhow. Your mother will be worried."
"Alright..." Ty said sulkily, staring out the window. He wouldn't fight anymore, but it didn't mean he had to like it.
The scene faded away and Ty smiled at his father. "You weren't too happy with me that day."
"I just didn't want you getting into trouble." His father met Ty's gaze as he chuckled. "Your heart was in the right place though."
"Yeah well..." Ty shrugged. "You're my dad. I was proud of you. I didn't want anyone talking badly about you."
Ty's attention was diverted by a new image that suddenly appeared, his mom's apartment. He saw an enveloped lying on the coffee table and immediately knew what part of his life this was from...
"Hey mom, I'm home," Ty called as he entered the apartment. He stretched out on the couch and picked up the newspaper, not noticing the envelope lying there. A few moments later, his mother came into the living room.
"Why didn't you tell me?" were the first words out of her mouth as she stared at her son.
"Huh? Tell you what? What's wrong, mom?" Ty glanced up at her uneasily as he put the paper aside. Something was obviously very wrong. He wasn't sure he had ever seen his mother look so angry.
"Tell me about this." She picked up the envelope and thrust it at him, waiting until he took it from her hand. He gnawed on his lip uneasily as he saw the return address: The New York City Police Department.
"I..." He shrugged and stared down at the envelope, not able to meet his mother's eyes.
"Well aren't you going to open it?" Maggie asked with a barely controlled anger in her voice as she sat down next to her son. "Open it, Ty."
Not knowing what else to do, he carefully opened the envelope and removed the folded letter inside.
"Read it," Maggie demanded quietly, gazing at her son with steely eyes even though he refused to even look at her.
With slightly trembling fingers he unfolded the letter and silently read it.
"Well?"
He decided that a wisecrack about U.S. mail being private probably wouldn't go over very well with his mom at that moment. "It...it's my acceptance letter to the police academy..."
Somehow she had known what it was, but hearing him actually voice her fears caused Maggie to gasp involuntarily. "I...I don't understand this, Ty...you were accepted to law school... Why? Why would you do this?"
"I...I want to be a cop, mom..."
"Is this because of your father?" she asked, "because he wouldn't have expected you to follow in his footsteps. Seeing you practicing law would have made him very proud, Ty."
He stared down at the worn beige-colored carpeting, trying to come up with the right words to explain this to her. He'd known she would react badly, which was why he had never had the nerve to bring it up. "It is because of dad, mom...but its not what you're thinking. It's just...ever since I was a kid...there was always a part of me that wanted to be a cop. I really tried to put it aside. I figured I would go to law school and I'd just forget it, but...the truth is, I don't want to forget it, mom...at least not yet. I want to try it ...I need you to understand. It's just something I have to do."
Maggie nodded, blinking back tears which were welling in her eyes. In the back of her mind she'd always had her suspicions but she had hoped he would be satisfied practicing law. He'd still be helping people but without having to constantly put himself at risk. "Just promise me that you'll always be careful," she whispered as she hugged him tightly. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too."
"I promise, mom," he said quietly as he returned her hug. "I promise."
As the scene faded into nothingness, Ty sighed heavily. "I was careful, dad...but, I guess it didn't matter..."
"Your mother knew the risks, Ty...she knows them better than anyone."
"Maybe I shouldn't have been so selfish...maybe I should have just gone on to law school...I would have been safe and mom would have been happy."
"There are no guarantees in life, son. You know that. You see the kind of stuff that can happen out there. Innocent people are always getting hurt, getting killed. One wrong move...being in the wrong place at the wrong time...you just never know what's going to happen...
"Yeah...yeah, I know...just wish mom didn't always have to pay the price...
"Your mother is a very strong woman..."
"So...What now?" Ty asked impatiently, abruptly changing the subject. He didn't want to talk about his mother anymore and he was tiring of these slices of his life which were only serving to make him feel worse.
No sooner had the words left Ty's lips when yet another scene unfolded before them...
Ty closed the door of the bus and watched as it pulled away, siren blaring. He'd only been on the force a few weeks, and this was by far the most horrific scene he had witnessed. Three children shot by their father. The two boys had apparently died immediately and the third child, a six-year-old girl, was on her way to the hospital and it didn't look good. The father had blown his own brains out right before the police got to the building. Ty had tried desperately to stop the flow of bleeding from the little girl's abdomen before the paramedics had arrived on the scene. He looked down at his hands, which were still covered with her blood. Badly shaken, he made his way to the RMP and sat down, his shoulders slumped dejectedly. He knew he needed to go back into the building where investigators were examining the crime scene, but he just couldn't do it yet. He couldn't look at the scene where two, possibly three innocent children had just lost their lives.
"How are you doing?" Ty raised his head, startled at the sound of Sully's voice. He'd been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't even heard his partner get into the car beside him.
"I...I don't know," Ty admitted shakily. "Guess I've been better..."
"I'd like to tell you that you get used to it," Sully said softly, "but...I don't think you ever do."
"It's just...you think you're prepared. I mean, I read stories like this in the paper all the time and see it on the news. I knew stuff like this happened, but...actually seeing it... I don't know, Sul..." he turned to his partner with tears in his eyes. "They were babies, Sully...babies...I don't...I don't know if I can handle this..."
Sully looked back at his distraught young partner, struggling for something comforting to say. "When you have days like this...you need to try to remember the good days, the kids we save, the people we help. As bad as this is, and God knows this is about as bad as it gets, think how much worse it would be if we weren't out here day after day."
Ty just sat there, staring down at his bloodstained hands. Finally he managed a barely perceptible nod. "I guess...I guess you're right."
Satisfied with that for the moment, Sully patted Ty's shoulder. "Come on. You should get cleaned up and the detectives need us inside. You okay?"
"Yeah...yeah I'm alright," Ty stated as he put his hand on the handle of the door and opened it, gearing himself up to go back inside. He just needed to get through the rest of this day. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.
"That was a rough day," Ty stated somberly as the images gradually diminished. "I really thought I was going to quit, but..."
"But?" his father prompted.
"But that little girl pulled through," Ty smiled at the memory. "Her mom was so grateful that we'd managed to save at least one of her children. It really got me through it, knowing one of those kids had survived. I visited her in the hospital, brought her a big stuffed bear. She was the cutest little kid..."
"I'm very proud of you, son... You're honest, sensitive and you have an amazing sense of honor...I can't imagine being any prouder of you than I am."
Ty felt a chill run through his spine at his father's words. It was something he'd always strived for, even though his father hadn't been there, he'd wanted him to be proud. "Thank you, dad," he said tremulously, his eyes full of emotion. "That means the world to me."
Ty's father's heart swelled with pride as he gazed at his son. He'd watched him over the years, but it wasn't the same as being able to stand face to face with him, talking to him, getting to know him all over again. He'd left behind a boy and now standing before him was a fine, young man. He knew their time together might be very limited though as the time for a decision to be made was almost upon them. "Come on, son," he said softly, draping his arm around Ty's shoulder as they began to walk. There's one more step before we'll find out your destiny...
Author: Lynne Facella
Category: Drama/Angst
Email: lynne1919@aol.com
Spoilers: Through current season 4
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero. I wish they were mine but unfortunately they're not.
Summary: The anniversary of his father's death hits Ty in a way he never could have imagined.
Author's notes: Thanks for the nice comments I've gotten. :) I'm not really sure where any of this came from, but it somehow got into my head and I'm glad you like it.
******
Ty stared back at his father, unsure he wanted to even know the answer to his question. "How exactly do we do that? Discover my fate?"
"Well the first thing we'll do is look at your life up until now.
"What do you mean? Is this like 'A Christmas Carol' or something? Am I supposed to be Ebeneezer Scrooge?" Ty asked with a grin.
His father shook his head, allowing a small smile to form on his lips. "No...you don't have to worry about that. Come on, follow me."
Ty cast one last stricken look at the sorrowful group in the waiting room and followed after his father.
"Recognize this building?" his father asked a few moments later as an image, seemingly from nowhere, came before them.
"Yeah...that's my elementary school," Ty said, innumerable memories coming into his head as he looked at the building. "It burned down around 10 years ago or so." His eyes moved towards the playground and he inhaled sharply as he saw himself as a boy. He'd always been tall for his age and in high demand on the basketball court even at the tender age of nine.
"Alright Ty!" Jerome Andrews gave Ty a high five after Ty got his third basket in a row. "You're gonna be in the NBA someday!"
"Yep, I'm gonna be the next Michael Jordan!" Ty bragged, a huge smile on his face. "And I'll give you all free tickets when my team comes to town. I can hear the announcer now. Number 99 Tyroooooone Davis!"
"You ain't ever gonna be in the NBA," Sammy Ellis, a 10-year-old with a penchant for trouble scowled. "It's really hard to make it and you ain't good enough. My dad says so."
"Why's your dad talking about me anyhow?" Ty asked angrily. "He should mind his own business."
"My dad can say whatever he damn pleases. It's a free country."
"You better watch it, Sammy" Jerome said, glaring at the other boy. "Ty's dad is a cop. He can fix your dad good if he wants to."
"My dad ain't afraid of no cops," Sammy stated defiantly. "My dad says cops suck. Always sending innocent people to jail while they let the crooks run free."
"That's not true. You take that back!" Ty shoved Sammy as hard as he could, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
"Fight! Fight!" The other children in the schoolyard came running to see the show as Ty and Sammy went at it.
"My father's a great cop!" Ty screamed as he managed to get a well-aimed punch to connect with Sammy's nose. "Maybe your dad's just a dirty crook and that's why he hates cops so much."
"Is not!" Sammy pummeled Ty's stomach with his fists. "My dad's better than your dad will ever be."
"TYRONE DAVIS!" The two boys froze and Ty looked fearfully up into the face of his father who was standing over them.
"Hi dad," he mumbled, hastily getting to his feet and brushing the dirt off his clothes.
"Sammy, I suggest you go home. Ty, you're coming with me." The group of children scattered at the sight of a police officer and Ty's father led him out to the street alongside the playground. The RMP was parked with Sully patiently waiting inside. "Get in."
Ty climbed into the back seat, his heart beating rapidly. He knew his father didn't like him fighting, but Sammy had just made him so mad. "Hi, Officer Sullivan," he said, biting his lip as his father got in the front passenger side of the car.
"Hello there, Ty," Sully replied, managing not to smile at the boy.
"Ty...what was going on back there?" his father asked sternly. "You know how I feel about fighting."
"I know, but, he was saying bad things about cops," Ty protested quickly. "He said his dad said cops let crooks run free and put good people in jail and he said his dad is better than you."
"You're going to hear a lot of things you don't like in your life. Sully and I hear those kinds of things all the time, son. Plain truth of the matter is a lot of people don't like cops. They're scared of them or they think like Sammy's dad does. You just have to let it roll off you though. You can't go around fighting with people just because they say things like that."
"But, dad!"
"No buts, Ty...I mean it. I don't want to see you fighting like that again, okay? Now Sully and I are going to swing you home. It's getting near suppertime anyhow. Your mother will be worried."
"Alright..." Ty said sulkily, staring out the window. He wouldn't fight anymore, but it didn't mean he had to like it.
The scene faded away and Ty smiled at his father. "You weren't too happy with me that day."
"I just didn't want you getting into trouble." His father met Ty's gaze as he chuckled. "Your heart was in the right place though."
"Yeah well..." Ty shrugged. "You're my dad. I was proud of you. I didn't want anyone talking badly about you."
Ty's attention was diverted by a new image that suddenly appeared, his mom's apartment. He saw an enveloped lying on the coffee table and immediately knew what part of his life this was from...
"Hey mom, I'm home," Ty called as he entered the apartment. He stretched out on the couch and picked up the newspaper, not noticing the envelope lying there. A few moments later, his mother came into the living room.
"Why didn't you tell me?" were the first words out of her mouth as she stared at her son.
"Huh? Tell you what? What's wrong, mom?" Ty glanced up at her uneasily as he put the paper aside. Something was obviously very wrong. He wasn't sure he had ever seen his mother look so angry.
"Tell me about this." She picked up the envelope and thrust it at him, waiting until he took it from her hand. He gnawed on his lip uneasily as he saw the return address: The New York City Police Department.
"I..." He shrugged and stared down at the envelope, not able to meet his mother's eyes.
"Well aren't you going to open it?" Maggie asked with a barely controlled anger in her voice as she sat down next to her son. "Open it, Ty."
Not knowing what else to do, he carefully opened the envelope and removed the folded letter inside.
"Read it," Maggie demanded quietly, gazing at her son with steely eyes even though he refused to even look at her.
With slightly trembling fingers he unfolded the letter and silently read it.
"Well?"
He decided that a wisecrack about U.S. mail being private probably wouldn't go over very well with his mom at that moment. "It...it's my acceptance letter to the police academy..."
Somehow she had known what it was, but hearing him actually voice her fears caused Maggie to gasp involuntarily. "I...I don't understand this, Ty...you were accepted to law school... Why? Why would you do this?"
"I...I want to be a cop, mom..."
"Is this because of your father?" she asked, "because he wouldn't have expected you to follow in his footsteps. Seeing you practicing law would have made him very proud, Ty."
He stared down at the worn beige-colored carpeting, trying to come up with the right words to explain this to her. He'd known she would react badly, which was why he had never had the nerve to bring it up. "It is because of dad, mom...but its not what you're thinking. It's just...ever since I was a kid...there was always a part of me that wanted to be a cop. I really tried to put it aside. I figured I would go to law school and I'd just forget it, but...the truth is, I don't want to forget it, mom...at least not yet. I want to try it ...I need you to understand. It's just something I have to do."
Maggie nodded, blinking back tears which were welling in her eyes. In the back of her mind she'd always had her suspicions but she had hoped he would be satisfied practicing law. He'd still be helping people but without having to constantly put himself at risk. "Just promise me that you'll always be careful," she whispered as she hugged him tightly. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too."
"I promise, mom," he said quietly as he returned her hug. "I promise."
As the scene faded into nothingness, Ty sighed heavily. "I was careful, dad...but, I guess it didn't matter..."
"Your mother knew the risks, Ty...she knows them better than anyone."
"Maybe I shouldn't have been so selfish...maybe I should have just gone on to law school...I would have been safe and mom would have been happy."
"There are no guarantees in life, son. You know that. You see the kind of stuff that can happen out there. Innocent people are always getting hurt, getting killed. One wrong move...being in the wrong place at the wrong time...you just never know what's going to happen...
"Yeah...yeah, I know...just wish mom didn't always have to pay the price...
"Your mother is a very strong woman..."
"So...What now?" Ty asked impatiently, abruptly changing the subject. He didn't want to talk about his mother anymore and he was tiring of these slices of his life which were only serving to make him feel worse.
No sooner had the words left Ty's lips when yet another scene unfolded before them...
Ty closed the door of the bus and watched as it pulled away, siren blaring. He'd only been on the force a few weeks, and this was by far the most horrific scene he had witnessed. Three children shot by their father. The two boys had apparently died immediately and the third child, a six-year-old girl, was on her way to the hospital and it didn't look good. The father had blown his own brains out right before the police got to the building. Ty had tried desperately to stop the flow of bleeding from the little girl's abdomen before the paramedics had arrived on the scene. He looked down at his hands, which were still covered with her blood. Badly shaken, he made his way to the RMP and sat down, his shoulders slumped dejectedly. He knew he needed to go back into the building where investigators were examining the crime scene, but he just couldn't do it yet. He couldn't look at the scene where two, possibly three innocent children had just lost their lives.
"How are you doing?" Ty raised his head, startled at the sound of Sully's voice. He'd been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't even heard his partner get into the car beside him.
"I...I don't know," Ty admitted shakily. "Guess I've been better..."
"I'd like to tell you that you get used to it," Sully said softly, "but...I don't think you ever do."
"It's just...you think you're prepared. I mean, I read stories like this in the paper all the time and see it on the news. I knew stuff like this happened, but...actually seeing it... I don't know, Sul..." he turned to his partner with tears in his eyes. "They were babies, Sully...babies...I don't...I don't know if I can handle this..."
Sully looked back at his distraught young partner, struggling for something comforting to say. "When you have days like this...you need to try to remember the good days, the kids we save, the people we help. As bad as this is, and God knows this is about as bad as it gets, think how much worse it would be if we weren't out here day after day."
Ty just sat there, staring down at his bloodstained hands. Finally he managed a barely perceptible nod. "I guess...I guess you're right."
Satisfied with that for the moment, Sully patted Ty's shoulder. "Come on. You should get cleaned up and the detectives need us inside. You okay?"
"Yeah...yeah I'm alright," Ty stated as he put his hand on the handle of the door and opened it, gearing himself up to go back inside. He just needed to get through the rest of this day. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.
"That was a rough day," Ty stated somberly as the images gradually diminished. "I really thought I was going to quit, but..."
"But?" his father prompted.
"But that little girl pulled through," Ty smiled at the memory. "Her mom was so grateful that we'd managed to save at least one of her children. It really got me through it, knowing one of those kids had survived. I visited her in the hospital, brought her a big stuffed bear. She was the cutest little kid..."
"I'm very proud of you, son... You're honest, sensitive and you have an amazing sense of honor...I can't imagine being any prouder of you than I am."
Ty felt a chill run through his spine at his father's words. It was something he'd always strived for, even though his father hadn't been there, he'd wanted him to be proud. "Thank you, dad," he said tremulously, his eyes full of emotion. "That means the world to me."
Ty's father's heart swelled with pride as he gazed at his son. He'd watched him over the years, but it wasn't the same as being able to stand face to face with him, talking to him, getting to know him all over again. He'd left behind a boy and now standing before him was a fine, young man. He knew their time together might be very limited though as the time for a decision to be made was almost upon them. "Come on, son," he said softly, draping his arm around Ty's shoulder as they began to walk. There's one more step before we'll find out your destiny...
