A/N: I had to be hospitalized due to the blockage in my mind. Writer's block... sigh Still have a little, but well... here's what I came up with. There's one more bit that I think might be able to kind of finish tying it up.
o o o
Don't let yourself go
Cuz everybody cries
Everybody Hurts
Sometimes...
Sometimes everything is wrong...
The older supervisitory agent sighed heavily as he leaned back in his black leather, office chair. He rubbed his tired eyes, feeling them begin to sting from the lack of rest. But that was him, always working. The workaholic, getting ahead, striving for perfection.
He wasn't sure what drove him, or what powered him. Sometimes he remembered getting home so late that he would have a shower and just collapse. If he was like that all the time, how on earth did he get his energy to move on from the aching pain, the mental anxiety and angst?
He supposed that was why he was such a workaholic. He worked to get away from it all. Work was his shell, his support; the pillar that held him up, when everything else collapsed beneath him.
Whenever something was bothering him, he would push himself to the brink and the very edge of the cliff, wanting to forget about it all.
He took off his reading glasses and set them in a desk drawer. He was about to close it, when he stopped, his eyes catching on something. It was a wooden frame poking out from a few paper documents.
He pulled out the wooden picture frame and gazed at it in the dim office light. He brushed the back of his hand on the glass, brushing away a layer of dust that had collected over time.
He inhaled a little too deeply as a wave of nostalgia overtook him.
He attempted to swallow but felt a block begin to form there as the emotions began rising within him.
It was a picture that a photographer had taken of him and Samantha in Central Park. It had been spring then. From looking in the background, he saw the cheery, brightly coloured blossoms and newly formed leaves sit majestically in the background as the two humans stared intimately into one another's eyes.
With a little bit of a shaky hand, he gently set the picture down, back in the desk drawer. He managed to swallow as he ran a hand through his hair.
He would let it collect dust and slowly fade away... After all, that's what he had to do about his relationship with Samantha. He had to make his marriage with Marie work. He may not love her like he had when he had married her, but he would do his best.
For the sake of his daughters. For Hannah and Kate...
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She sat on the chair for his computer desk and silently watched his rythmic breathing. She smiled for a moment, noticing just how young and innocent he was. Soon he would be thrust into the world where pain was abundant, love was little and innocence was pretty much no one. He would have so much to learn...
She sighed quietly. But it was her job as a mother to be there for him, as best as she could.
She got up as quietly as when she had entered and leaned over and gently kissed his cheek. She made to move towards the doorway when she heard the sheets rustle and a quiet voice. "Mom?"
Vivan turned around. "Yes?"
"Is Santa going to come even though there's no snow?" Reggie wanted to know. His worried expression almost melted her heart.
"Look outside." She told him gently.
He groggily rubbed his eyes and slid out of bed. Moving towards the window, his eyes widened as big as golf balls and became bright with wonder at the sight of the fair-sized snowfall out his window.
"Wow! Can I go out and play mom?" He asked her, his enthusiastic, youthful eyes shining brightly.
"As long as you bring a friend and dress warmly." She told him, nodding.
"Wahoo!" He practically flew from the room, grabbing his winter coat, boots and mitts along the way. He ran down the hallway of the apartment complex and found the door of his friend, Jeremiah. "Jeremy!" He called, knocking loudly on the door.
A few minutes passed before Vivan moved to the living room and saw the two boys run out into the apartment park next door. They immediately dove into the snow, doing snow angels, and making various things.
She watched them, happy and sad at the same time. But the happiness overcame the saddness and a smile touched her expression...
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Shoving his hands in the pocket of his large trenchcoat-like jacket, Agent Taylor blew out an icy breath that immediately condensed and clouded before him.
He headed down the Bronx alleyway, knowing that he shouldn't be there, but not caring.
He had been one of them once... He knew how to take care of himself. He was streetwise. Plus... maybe this place could do with a little christmas cheer. He knew he could anyway...
His girlfriend had dumped him. Today of all days... He had always been too busy working and it just hadn't worked with her spacious, carefree schedule. But it happened to be like that for every girl he met. Right when he thought there might be some connection there, she broke it off.
He sighed thoughtfully, running a hand through his thick black hair.
He stopped in the alleyway and looked up towards the heavens. He had never really done so. He believed in God and creatism and all but never had he really looked at the stars. And he wasn't quite sure why he had gotten the sudden urge now, either.
He heard a quiet patter of footsteps and glanced out of the corner of his eye. His eyes caught sight of a smaller figure walk past him.
He felt something gently brush his pocket and his hand latched onto the figure's wrist. "Where do you think you're taking that?" Danny asked the figure who now held nothing.
"What? I didn't do anything Mr.!" The kid told him defiantly.
"You picked my pocket." Danny said, a slightly annoyed look beginning to play over his features.
"Uh... I..." The kid began, trying to come up with a good lie.
"Don't lie to me." Danny told him, kneeling down a little so he could look into the face of the boy.
The boy had bright blue eyes, curly blonde locks and looked no more than eleven. The Special Agent could tell that the boy tried to keep his tough look up, but in his eyes, he could see the fear struggling to be released.
"I tell you what. You give it back to me and I'll buy you a nice Christmas dinner." Danny told him, in his gentlest voice possible.
He almost smiled slightly to himself. This was how he had gotten out of stealing... He had tried to pick someone's pocket as a boy as well. And one time, someone had caught him. Fortunately for him though, they had given him a second chance and done something nice for him. The stranger had given him some cash in exchange for some directions.
The fear in the boy's eyes diminished and Danny could imagine the kid's stomach start to growl internally. The kid was as skinny as a twig. Like most of the poor people living in the Bronx and bad end of town, he assumed that this kid didn't get a lot to eat. He would probably enjoy a hot meal.
"Really? You'd do that after what I just did?" The boy's eyes were wide with uncertainty, but full of hope and relief.
Danny smiled. "Everyone deserves a second chance kid. You just got yours."
They walked down the alleyway, heading towards a diner that Danny knew would do wonders for this kid...
If you feel like you're alone,
No, no, no, you are not alone