Facing the Past
Disclaimer: Same as before....
C.J. Sandiego - I promise that once this case is over, the whole Diane thing's gonna be over and done with. Just be patient with the story line, please. After all, romances don't always start overnight. (I sorta want Hal and Ivy to become really good friends first before they actually fall in love).
~ ~ ~ ~
Hal's Apartment, Harbor View
18 May 2000: The sunlight filtering through the blinds was minimal and did nothing to put a smile on the face of Hal, sitting on his couch. A small pistol he held in one hand and a picture of Diane he held in the other. This new case they were going to try was really starting to get to him and they hadn't even started on it yet. So many of the details of it reminded him of what had caused Diane's murder.
Female detective complaining about sexual harassment in the workplace. Tries to complain up her chain of command, but it winds up resulting in her receiving anonymous threats on her phone on a nightly basis. This Senior Detective Clara Payton's complaints were becoming eerily similar to a letter he'd received while he was in Belize.
That was the letter he held in his hands right now. He remembered Diane's words to the letter, 'Somebody's been following me around lately. Ever since I complained about his behavior to Senior Inspector Holbarth, I've been getting threats on my answering machine every night.'
Three months after he'd received that letter, Diane was murdered. Her body was found in her car, cause of death was a single bullet to the head, execution style. Hal knew that he would kill Diane's killer, and that where he was going, his new friends at ACME couldn't follow.
He remembered how he'd received that case, earlier that day. From the moment he heard the opening details from Wells he could see the similarities between this case and Diane's murder. In fact he had the file on the investigation packed in his bag.
~ ~ ~ ~
Armando, Hal, Ivy, Zack and Tatiana were sitting in the bullpen over cups of coffee that steamed fresh from the pot. They were talking about Hal and Ivy's latest case.
"So let me get this straight. You and Ivy uncovered evidence of a corporate coup, won a dance competition, fell down a waterfall, survived being attacked by any number of dinosaurs and found out what happened to my brother over the weekend and some change? My weekends should be so eventful." Armando replied.
"Dream on gaucho. You weren't threatened with a needle full of some weird toxin that could kill you in thirty seconds." Ivy replied.
"Or thrown off a bloody cliff by a Tyrannosaurus Rex." Hal added.
"Or being asked by a corporate weasel for a dance. I may have to destroy that dress." Ivy replied.
"Ivy, you wore a dress?" Zack replied, "Call the papers."
"You wound me, fair lady." Hal replied, "You danced with me right after that particular dance."
"Really. What happened after the dance?" Tatiana asked.
Ivy replied, "Nothing Tatiana. We just went for a little stroll, and Hal walked me back to my hotel room, where I thanked him for such a wonderful night."
"Oh, it was a wham, bam, thank you ma'am kind of deal." Tatiana replied.
Both Hal and Ivy turned red with embarrassment, "Nothing of that sort happened." Ivy replied.
'Though I do wonder what we'd be doing right now if it had.' She thought, 'Hal and I would very likely be having some pretty awkward moments in the office. Ooh, that didn't come out nearly as well as I intended it....'
"I can vouch for that." Hal replied, "We both slept in separate rooms after I walked her back to hers."
'I do wonder what that night might have turned out like, however. But I do think I'd feel like a bastard for using Ivy like that. After all I've only known her for a couple weeks, we're starting to become fast friends, and I can't shake the feeling that until I found who killed Diane I can't move on.' Hal thought.
Tatiana looked slightly disappointed and thought, 'Rats, I thought a few days stuck on a tropical paradise would get those two together. Hmm, maybe I'd best go back to the drawing board....'
"Hal, Ivy," said Corso, "Wells wants to see both of you in his office, pronto."
"What did you do this time?" Ivy asked, jokingly.
"I've no idea. This time I didn't kill anybody." Hal replied.
"Right." Ivy said, "I'd like to avoid the paperwork."
"What are you honking about? I had to do three times the paperwork because I shot Spyde last week." Hal replied.
"As your partner I had to write a couple reports about my observations about your mental and emotional state as well." Ivy said.
As they walked away from the bullpen, Tatiana said, "OK, what's the pool up to?"
"So far, whoever guesses the day that Hal and Ivy wind up dating wins one hundred and fifty dollars." Armando replied.
"I don't believe this." Zack said, "Hal and Ivy have only been partners for two weeks and you already think they're gonna start dating."
"I can see sparks fly whenever they're around each other." Tatiana replied.
"I bet by the time Hal's tour is up in this country they'll at least have kissed each other." Armando began.
"Put me down for fifty bucks that they do more than that." Corso said, "Within three years of Hal's tour at ACME."
"Is the whole OFFICE in on this pool on whether my sister dates her partner?" Zack replied.
"I've got twenty-five that by the end of two years they'll have spent time close together overnight." Phil, one of the men in Corso's three-man Delta Force contingent, Sergeant First Class Philip Walsh, replied.
"What kind of a bet is that?" Corso began, "By those terms, if Ivy's car breaks down and she has to spend an overnight in Hal's apartment you can win."
"Close together, Joe, that means they spend an entire night sleeping within arm's length if not closer to each other." Phil replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Hal, Ivy, I have a case for you two to investigate. It shouldn't be too difficult." Grant Wells began, "After all you two are two for two in cases."
"A sexual harassment case? Shouldn't Internal Affairs be investigating this?" Ivy began.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, detectives. Senior Detective Payton is the daughter of Chief Inspector Payton, the Chief Inspector of ACME and our head honcho." Wells began.
"Ah, that's why they want us on the case." Hal replied.
"Exactly. I told Senior Inspector Holbarth, the second in charge of the Hereford Field Office, that he'd be getting my best two detectives. One of whom is quite familiar with the area." Wells said, glancing at Hal.
"Right. I've been posted at Hereford since 1992." Hal replied, "Who's the Chief Inspector of the post, by the way?"
"Chief Inspector Sorens is currently in Paris right now, he's training the replacement for the Paris field office since Chief Inspector DeRutyer had an accident." Wells replied.
"Somebody call my name! Somebody mention the Chief!" the computer generated Chief said.
"Oh Dear God! Not you again!" Wells groaned.
"I see you and the Chief are becoming bosom buddies." Ivy joked.
"Darren! One more remark like that and I'll dock your pay. Olden, don't encourage her." Wells replied. Hal was chuckling as the Chief kept appearing on random surfaces in the room.
"Whoever decided that I needed this Computer Generated Menace is obviously missing a few brain cells." Wells replied.
"Who, moi?" the Chief said, "Grant, you wound me."
"Not as badly as I'll wound you! You're lucky you don't have a body...." Wells replied.
"Anyway." Wells continued, "When Miss Payton made the allegations of sexual harassment to her superiors in the workplace she started receiving threatening phone calls."
At this Hal visibly changed. He seemed distracted, as he heard that allegation about threats to the victim. He actually already had several leads he was following on suspects, narrowed down to two people at the Hereford field office.
~ ~ ~ ~
A knock on his door distracted him, "Hal?"
"Yes." Hal said, opening the door.
"Hal, our flight to London's in three hours." Ivy said, "Are you packed?"
"Yes." Hal replied, picking up his bag. Ivy noticed him tucking a small photograph into the pocket of his jeans.
"Are you checking in any baggage?" Ivy asked.
"No." Hal replied.
"We'll take my car then." Ivy replied.
As they rode down the freeway, Ivy asked, "Who was in that picture you put in your pocket?"
"Her name was Diane." Hal replied, "She and I were involved until a few months ago. She worked in the same field office we're about to head to."
"Hal, I know its probably difficult for you to see an ex-girlfriend again, especially after a recent breakup. But you've gotta move on." Ivy replied.
"We didn't break up." Hal replied, "She died not nine months ago."
"I'm sorry." Ivy said, "What happened?"
"We were good friends for about seven years and for most of them I had feelings beyond friendship for her." Hal replied, with a sad smile.
"Did you ever....?" Ivy began.
"We were planning to go to her parent's cabin, back in the States to just be alone and talk about our feelings and whether it was possible to have a relationship." Hal replied, the way he spoke about it was as if he were a thousand miles away, watching a looped playback of his own memories, "She was found murdered in the driver's seat of her car in the parking lot of the Hereford field office."
Hal showed Ivy the small photograph of Diane he kept in his pocket. Ivy was shocked to realize that the woman in the picture was exactly like looking at herself in the mirror. That explained why Hal looked so haunted the first time they met. That also explained those slightly mournful looks he'd get during their first week working together.
They boarded their flight to the United Kingdom and Ivy couldn't help but feel how badly this must feel for Hal, unearthing memories he'd rather have forgotten. As they rode the flight to the UK, they fell asleep leaning against each other, as they'd done before.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC
Disclaimer: Same as before....
C.J. Sandiego - I promise that once this case is over, the whole Diane thing's gonna be over and done with. Just be patient with the story line, please. After all, romances don't always start overnight. (I sorta want Hal and Ivy to become really good friends first before they actually fall in love).
~ ~ ~ ~
Hal's Apartment, Harbor View
18 May 2000: The sunlight filtering through the blinds was minimal and did nothing to put a smile on the face of Hal, sitting on his couch. A small pistol he held in one hand and a picture of Diane he held in the other. This new case they were going to try was really starting to get to him and they hadn't even started on it yet. So many of the details of it reminded him of what had caused Diane's murder.
Female detective complaining about sexual harassment in the workplace. Tries to complain up her chain of command, but it winds up resulting in her receiving anonymous threats on her phone on a nightly basis. This Senior Detective Clara Payton's complaints were becoming eerily similar to a letter he'd received while he was in Belize.
That was the letter he held in his hands right now. He remembered Diane's words to the letter, 'Somebody's been following me around lately. Ever since I complained about his behavior to Senior Inspector Holbarth, I've been getting threats on my answering machine every night.'
Three months after he'd received that letter, Diane was murdered. Her body was found in her car, cause of death was a single bullet to the head, execution style. Hal knew that he would kill Diane's killer, and that where he was going, his new friends at ACME couldn't follow.
He remembered how he'd received that case, earlier that day. From the moment he heard the opening details from Wells he could see the similarities between this case and Diane's murder. In fact he had the file on the investigation packed in his bag.
~ ~ ~ ~
Armando, Hal, Ivy, Zack and Tatiana were sitting in the bullpen over cups of coffee that steamed fresh from the pot. They were talking about Hal and Ivy's latest case.
"So let me get this straight. You and Ivy uncovered evidence of a corporate coup, won a dance competition, fell down a waterfall, survived being attacked by any number of dinosaurs and found out what happened to my brother over the weekend and some change? My weekends should be so eventful." Armando replied.
"Dream on gaucho. You weren't threatened with a needle full of some weird toxin that could kill you in thirty seconds." Ivy replied.
"Or thrown off a bloody cliff by a Tyrannosaurus Rex." Hal added.
"Or being asked by a corporate weasel for a dance. I may have to destroy that dress." Ivy replied.
"Ivy, you wore a dress?" Zack replied, "Call the papers."
"You wound me, fair lady." Hal replied, "You danced with me right after that particular dance."
"Really. What happened after the dance?" Tatiana asked.
Ivy replied, "Nothing Tatiana. We just went for a little stroll, and Hal walked me back to my hotel room, where I thanked him for such a wonderful night."
"Oh, it was a wham, bam, thank you ma'am kind of deal." Tatiana replied.
Both Hal and Ivy turned red with embarrassment, "Nothing of that sort happened." Ivy replied.
'Though I do wonder what we'd be doing right now if it had.' She thought, 'Hal and I would very likely be having some pretty awkward moments in the office. Ooh, that didn't come out nearly as well as I intended it....'
"I can vouch for that." Hal replied, "We both slept in separate rooms after I walked her back to hers."
'I do wonder what that night might have turned out like, however. But I do think I'd feel like a bastard for using Ivy like that. After all I've only known her for a couple weeks, we're starting to become fast friends, and I can't shake the feeling that until I found who killed Diane I can't move on.' Hal thought.
Tatiana looked slightly disappointed and thought, 'Rats, I thought a few days stuck on a tropical paradise would get those two together. Hmm, maybe I'd best go back to the drawing board....'
"Hal, Ivy," said Corso, "Wells wants to see both of you in his office, pronto."
"What did you do this time?" Ivy asked, jokingly.
"I've no idea. This time I didn't kill anybody." Hal replied.
"Right." Ivy said, "I'd like to avoid the paperwork."
"What are you honking about? I had to do three times the paperwork because I shot Spyde last week." Hal replied.
"As your partner I had to write a couple reports about my observations about your mental and emotional state as well." Ivy said.
As they walked away from the bullpen, Tatiana said, "OK, what's the pool up to?"
"So far, whoever guesses the day that Hal and Ivy wind up dating wins one hundred and fifty dollars." Armando replied.
"I don't believe this." Zack said, "Hal and Ivy have only been partners for two weeks and you already think they're gonna start dating."
"I can see sparks fly whenever they're around each other." Tatiana replied.
"I bet by the time Hal's tour is up in this country they'll at least have kissed each other." Armando began.
"Put me down for fifty bucks that they do more than that." Corso said, "Within three years of Hal's tour at ACME."
"Is the whole OFFICE in on this pool on whether my sister dates her partner?" Zack replied.
"I've got twenty-five that by the end of two years they'll have spent time close together overnight." Phil, one of the men in Corso's three-man Delta Force contingent, Sergeant First Class Philip Walsh, replied.
"What kind of a bet is that?" Corso began, "By those terms, if Ivy's car breaks down and she has to spend an overnight in Hal's apartment you can win."
"Close together, Joe, that means they spend an entire night sleeping within arm's length if not closer to each other." Phil replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Hal, Ivy, I have a case for you two to investigate. It shouldn't be too difficult." Grant Wells began, "After all you two are two for two in cases."
"A sexual harassment case? Shouldn't Internal Affairs be investigating this?" Ivy began.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, detectives. Senior Detective Payton is the daughter of Chief Inspector Payton, the Chief Inspector of ACME and our head honcho." Wells began.
"Ah, that's why they want us on the case." Hal replied.
"Exactly. I told Senior Inspector Holbarth, the second in charge of the Hereford Field Office, that he'd be getting my best two detectives. One of whom is quite familiar with the area." Wells said, glancing at Hal.
"Right. I've been posted at Hereford since 1992." Hal replied, "Who's the Chief Inspector of the post, by the way?"
"Chief Inspector Sorens is currently in Paris right now, he's training the replacement for the Paris field office since Chief Inspector DeRutyer had an accident." Wells replied.
"Somebody call my name! Somebody mention the Chief!" the computer generated Chief said.
"Oh Dear God! Not you again!" Wells groaned.
"I see you and the Chief are becoming bosom buddies." Ivy joked.
"Darren! One more remark like that and I'll dock your pay. Olden, don't encourage her." Wells replied. Hal was chuckling as the Chief kept appearing on random surfaces in the room.
"Whoever decided that I needed this Computer Generated Menace is obviously missing a few brain cells." Wells replied.
"Who, moi?" the Chief said, "Grant, you wound me."
"Not as badly as I'll wound you! You're lucky you don't have a body...." Wells replied.
"Anyway." Wells continued, "When Miss Payton made the allegations of sexual harassment to her superiors in the workplace she started receiving threatening phone calls."
At this Hal visibly changed. He seemed distracted, as he heard that allegation about threats to the victim. He actually already had several leads he was following on suspects, narrowed down to two people at the Hereford field office.
~ ~ ~ ~
A knock on his door distracted him, "Hal?"
"Yes." Hal said, opening the door.
"Hal, our flight to London's in three hours." Ivy said, "Are you packed?"
"Yes." Hal replied, picking up his bag. Ivy noticed him tucking a small photograph into the pocket of his jeans.
"Are you checking in any baggage?" Ivy asked.
"No." Hal replied.
"We'll take my car then." Ivy replied.
As they rode down the freeway, Ivy asked, "Who was in that picture you put in your pocket?"
"Her name was Diane." Hal replied, "She and I were involved until a few months ago. She worked in the same field office we're about to head to."
"Hal, I know its probably difficult for you to see an ex-girlfriend again, especially after a recent breakup. But you've gotta move on." Ivy replied.
"We didn't break up." Hal replied, "She died not nine months ago."
"I'm sorry." Ivy said, "What happened?"
"We were good friends for about seven years and for most of them I had feelings beyond friendship for her." Hal replied, with a sad smile.
"Did you ever....?" Ivy began.
"We were planning to go to her parent's cabin, back in the States to just be alone and talk about our feelings and whether it was possible to have a relationship." Hal replied, the way he spoke about it was as if he were a thousand miles away, watching a looped playback of his own memories, "She was found murdered in the driver's seat of her car in the parking lot of the Hereford field office."
Hal showed Ivy the small photograph of Diane he kept in his pocket. Ivy was shocked to realize that the woman in the picture was exactly like looking at herself in the mirror. That explained why Hal looked so haunted the first time they met. That also explained those slightly mournful looks he'd get during their first week working together.
They boarded their flight to the United Kingdom and Ivy couldn't help but feel how badly this must feel for Hal, unearthing memories he'd rather have forgotten. As they rode the flight to the UK, they fell asleep leaning against each other, as they'd done before.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC