Title: Touchstone
Chapter: 10
Author: Evidence
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: It's finally done. For those of you who stuck with this WIP- THANK YOU, I really appreciate it. Thanks also to D and Maple Street.
++++
"What the..." Podena began to say staring at the nozzle of the gun pointed at him.
"Shut up," Martin Fitzgerald replied, "I'm the one speaking now."
"You can't do this- you're a Fed." Podena nearly snickered.
"A Fed that you could have killed," Martin's eyes tensed. "You'll keep coming back unless someone does something to stop you."
"Oh and are you the appointed person to do that?" Podena laughed. "I did enough research on you, you weak willed piss ant. You aren't going to do nothing. So stop trying to scare someone who doesn't give a fuck."
Martin looked down at the man lying in the bed. He had to do something; he had to make his life mattered somehow. He could hear the voices of the people who were injured or killed from the blast around him. Their haunting cries kept him awake most nights. Jack had put him on leave due to the failure of his psychological testing. Everything was swirling out of control and the man who started it was right in front of him laughing at him.
Martin squeezed the trigger.
++++
Thomas handed her a glass of cold milk and sat down beside her on the plaid couch in his ...correction their apartment. Shauna was healing quickly and the baby was doing its part to be born normal. Thomas had never lived with anyone except his family so this was a whole new experience for him. An experience he was loving more than he thought he would.
"We have to start thinking about baby names," Shauna said, putting her head on his shoulder.
"We have some time. No alien names, please."
Shauna hide a smile from him. "Oh darn and I wanted Kristoc."
"He's not bothering you is he?"
"Um...no, I just made up the name."
Thomas sighed. "Oh I knew a Kristoc once...what a prick."
"Okay so other than no alien names what name do you want for the baby?" Shauna tried to right the conversation back on topic.
"If it's a boy Jack or Samuel. If it's a girl Samantha."
"Yeah but we already have pets named that." Shauna wasn't against the names but she wanted to be a separate entity from the couple.
"Um...I don't know. What are you leaning towards?"
"How about Rochester or Heathcliff for a boy and for a girl Jane or Ophelia?"
Thomas kissed the top of her head. "Not on your life."
They both erupted with laughter and forget about names or the game show they were watching as they kissed.
++++
He had thought he could figure out how to put the bed together himself but alas Jack Malone was not king of the bed makers. "Damn it!" he yelled again.
Samantha sighed as she stopping arraigning books on the oak bookcase they had just bought for their place. Their place, what a fresh new concept. Not Sam's apartment, or Jack's office, or the Motel 6...their place. A place with no quick departure, no hiding, no pretending not to know its location.
They had found an expensive but lovely loft on the upper west side. There were several rooms that made up their happy abode. A modern, fairly large, kitchen decorated in black and white which they "christened" for lack of a better word the night they moved in was bright and airy. The bathroom was dual vanity and sprinkled with green flicks on white walls. In the living room, Jack's favorite possession hung on the wall: a black and white photo of the New York Yankees when the greats, Mantle, DiMaggio, Bera all played. The living room was large and open, decorated in deep blues and a flowered couch. The girls had their own bedroom to share which Vivian had helped Sam paint so that it resembled a flower garden. The master bedroom was small compared to the kitchen and living room but large enough to house a queen bed and a dresser for each of them. Jack had agreed to the rose wallpapering even though he preferred paint but it made Samantha happy so it was worth sleeping with he roses.
"Jack, do you need my help?" Sam asked entering the bedroom.
"I'll get the damn thing- if the guys who had assembled had done the job right we wouldn't have had the problem last night."
Sam chuckled at the memory. After falling asleep in each other's arms they found themselves and the mattress on the floor: the boards holding the mattress in place had come loose.
"Maybe you shouldn't have taken the whole thing apart."
Jack shook the screwdriver in his hand. "I'll fix it. I figure out the fucking damn thing."
"Well you better. Where are we going to sleep tonight if not." Samantha folded her arms.
"We have the floor."
"I'm not sleeping all night on the floor, carpet or not."
"The bathtub," he replied going back to his work.
"I think not."
"The kitchen."
"No."
"We have slept in there before," he said with a smile.
"We weren't sleeping Jack..."
He was up in a flash, his lips on hers. Her arms went around his back. Quickly he lifted her and brought her down on the rose colored carpet.
"See the floor isn't that bad," Jack said kissing her again.
She laughed.
They soon where interrupted by the phone ringing.
"Damn phone!" Jack yelled into the hallway. "I'll be right back stay just as you are."
Sam smiled at him and watched him leave into the living room. His voice drifted back into the bedroom making her sit up and quickly began to rebutton her shirt.
"I'll be right there," he finished off saying before she entered into the living room.
"What happened?" she asked seeing the look in his eyes.
"Franklin Podena was shot today."
"What? How? By who?"
"Martin."
Sam could feel her month open. "Martin shot him?"
Jack nodded. "He used his badge to get into Podena's room and then he shot him. Luckily for Martin, Podena will live."
"My God, Jack, why would he do this!"
Jack sat on the edge of the couch. "He failed his physiological evaluation so I put him on leave but I didn't take his badge or gun."
"Jack, I thought Martin went on a vacation..."
"I know, I was trying to protect him but...damn I screwed up and now Martin's career is in he toilet."
"Maybe not. If he failed his evaluation maybe his lawyer can argue post traumatic stress. Jack, are you going to be in trouble?" The concern was written on her face.
Jack pulled Samantha to him. "It wouldn't matter if I was. As long as I'm with you, that's all I need. You're my touchstone."
The end.
Chapter: 10
Author: Evidence
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: It's finally done. For those of you who stuck with this WIP- THANK YOU, I really appreciate it. Thanks also to D and Maple Street.
++++
"What the..." Podena began to say staring at the nozzle of the gun pointed at him.
"Shut up," Martin Fitzgerald replied, "I'm the one speaking now."
"You can't do this- you're a Fed." Podena nearly snickered.
"A Fed that you could have killed," Martin's eyes tensed. "You'll keep coming back unless someone does something to stop you."
"Oh and are you the appointed person to do that?" Podena laughed. "I did enough research on you, you weak willed piss ant. You aren't going to do nothing. So stop trying to scare someone who doesn't give a fuck."
Martin looked down at the man lying in the bed. He had to do something; he had to make his life mattered somehow. He could hear the voices of the people who were injured or killed from the blast around him. Their haunting cries kept him awake most nights. Jack had put him on leave due to the failure of his psychological testing. Everything was swirling out of control and the man who started it was right in front of him laughing at him.
Martin squeezed the trigger.
++++
Thomas handed her a glass of cold milk and sat down beside her on the plaid couch in his ...correction their apartment. Shauna was healing quickly and the baby was doing its part to be born normal. Thomas had never lived with anyone except his family so this was a whole new experience for him. An experience he was loving more than he thought he would.
"We have to start thinking about baby names," Shauna said, putting her head on his shoulder.
"We have some time. No alien names, please."
Shauna hide a smile from him. "Oh darn and I wanted Kristoc."
"He's not bothering you is he?"
"Um...no, I just made up the name."
Thomas sighed. "Oh I knew a Kristoc once...what a prick."
"Okay so other than no alien names what name do you want for the baby?" Shauna tried to right the conversation back on topic.
"If it's a boy Jack or Samuel. If it's a girl Samantha."
"Yeah but we already have pets named that." Shauna wasn't against the names but she wanted to be a separate entity from the couple.
"Um...I don't know. What are you leaning towards?"
"How about Rochester or Heathcliff for a boy and for a girl Jane or Ophelia?"
Thomas kissed the top of her head. "Not on your life."
They both erupted with laughter and forget about names or the game show they were watching as they kissed.
++++
He had thought he could figure out how to put the bed together himself but alas Jack Malone was not king of the bed makers. "Damn it!" he yelled again.
Samantha sighed as she stopping arraigning books on the oak bookcase they had just bought for their place. Their place, what a fresh new concept. Not Sam's apartment, or Jack's office, or the Motel 6...their place. A place with no quick departure, no hiding, no pretending not to know its location.
They had found an expensive but lovely loft on the upper west side. There were several rooms that made up their happy abode. A modern, fairly large, kitchen decorated in black and white which they "christened" for lack of a better word the night they moved in was bright and airy. The bathroom was dual vanity and sprinkled with green flicks on white walls. In the living room, Jack's favorite possession hung on the wall: a black and white photo of the New York Yankees when the greats, Mantle, DiMaggio, Bera all played. The living room was large and open, decorated in deep blues and a flowered couch. The girls had their own bedroom to share which Vivian had helped Sam paint so that it resembled a flower garden. The master bedroom was small compared to the kitchen and living room but large enough to house a queen bed and a dresser for each of them. Jack had agreed to the rose wallpapering even though he preferred paint but it made Samantha happy so it was worth sleeping with he roses.
"Jack, do you need my help?" Sam asked entering the bedroom.
"I'll get the damn thing- if the guys who had assembled had done the job right we wouldn't have had the problem last night."
Sam chuckled at the memory. After falling asleep in each other's arms they found themselves and the mattress on the floor: the boards holding the mattress in place had come loose.
"Maybe you shouldn't have taken the whole thing apart."
Jack shook the screwdriver in his hand. "I'll fix it. I figure out the fucking damn thing."
"Well you better. Where are we going to sleep tonight if not." Samantha folded her arms.
"We have the floor."
"I'm not sleeping all night on the floor, carpet or not."
"The bathtub," he replied going back to his work.
"I think not."
"The kitchen."
"No."
"We have slept in there before," he said with a smile.
"We weren't sleeping Jack..."
He was up in a flash, his lips on hers. Her arms went around his back. Quickly he lifted her and brought her down on the rose colored carpet.
"See the floor isn't that bad," Jack said kissing her again.
She laughed.
They soon where interrupted by the phone ringing.
"Damn phone!" Jack yelled into the hallway. "I'll be right back stay just as you are."
Sam smiled at him and watched him leave into the living room. His voice drifted back into the bedroom making her sit up and quickly began to rebutton her shirt.
"I'll be right there," he finished off saying before she entered into the living room.
"What happened?" she asked seeing the look in his eyes.
"Franklin Podena was shot today."
"What? How? By who?"
"Martin."
Sam could feel her month open. "Martin shot him?"
Jack nodded. "He used his badge to get into Podena's room and then he shot him. Luckily for Martin, Podena will live."
"My God, Jack, why would he do this!"
Jack sat on the edge of the couch. "He failed his physiological evaluation so I put him on leave but I didn't take his badge or gun."
"Jack, I thought Martin went on a vacation..."
"I know, I was trying to protect him but...damn I screwed up and now Martin's career is in he toilet."
"Maybe not. If he failed his evaluation maybe his lawyer can argue post traumatic stress. Jack, are you going to be in trouble?" The concern was written on her face.
Jack pulled Samantha to him. "It wouldn't matter if I was. As long as I'm with you, that's all I need. You're my touchstone."
The end.
