RATING: PG-13 for language (could change as the series progresses)
SUMMARY: Today Dylan will tell us his story, he has no orginal TW DNA, but I thought he may need to be better understood.
AUTHORS NOTES: this one takes place after Kylie and Dylan have to work together. Dylan is a bit of an ass, but I think a more fair discripition, i think the best way to put it is, he's a little boy who thinks he can play with the big boys. you'll see what i mean. oh and pre-wearning i'm not so good with action scences, so deal with the little bit that i have in this one. the muse is doing good, my heart is healing, so i should be able to update this more regularly from now on!
After two days of working with Kylie, my usual partner, Tyrone Davis was finally back in action. He had caught a nasty cold, and was forced to take a couple of days off to recuperate. It was a wonder Kylie and I hadn't killed each other in the past two days. It wasn't even our usual kind of bitterness that had made it so unbearable. I knew there was something else that was eating her insides, but she refused to open up to me. When I even tried to bring it up, she'd tell me where to shove it.
Most of the time I deserved her hostility, I did try to pick her up the first day we met. How was I supposed to know I'd have to ride with her? Her first impression of me was certainly far from positive, but she'd usually tolerate me a little more then she had those two days.
When lunch time came around we decided to stop at a small diner, that had some of the best food I'd ever tasted. It wasn't far from where we were, and it seemed like a good idea. We had a booth, sitting on opposite sides of each other, still looking at the menus.
"Am I ever glad you're back man!" I told Davis.
"I've been sick, I couldn't really control it," he laughed.
"I know, but working with Kylie is like a death sentence."
He shook his head. "You two just have a hate thing."
I shrugged. "I guess so, I don't know what I ever did to her."
"You know that women either love you or hate you, Romeo. She's one of the haters," he chuckled
I laughed. "I guess so." I didn't want to dwell on it that, so I changed the subject to his new girl. "Where's the wife these days?"
He shook his head. "I'd hardly call her the wife."
"You've been dating for what, two months now?"
"Yeah."
"That's enough of a ball and chain for me, thank you very much."
He laughed. "This from the guy with the kid."
"Whatever man."
"She got back from visiting her dad last night. I'm supposed to meet her at the station house after work tonight."
I smiled. "Look, Davis, all I'm saying is that you could play the field a little more."
"And you could play it less, what's your point?" he retorted.
"When the cat's away the mice should play."
"Whatever."
"You shouldn't restrict yourself to one woman the rest of your life, it just doesn't seem natural."
"Who said anything about the rest of my life? Right now I just want to see where this is going to go." He took a sip of his coffee.. "Maybe you should pay more attention when you find someone special."
"You are not suggesting that Emily is the one, are you?"
"She could be, she has put up with your sorry ass longer then almost anyone. You really need to think more about your daughter in all of it."
I shrugged. "Do I look like I give a shit about the kid?"
"That, my friend, is the problem."
I pondered that a moment. I had no problem admitting I was a ladies man. I loved the ladies, and just because I happened to get one knocked up doesn't mean I should treat her special. So she has my kid, it wasn't even like we were in love. We had sex three times before she told me she was pregnant. After that I stopped talking to her for a while. I'd still call her when I was lonely, but that was all. That did not constitute a relationship in my books. So it certainly wasn't love. despite what she seems to think.
I did ask her to keep the kid, but only because I couldn't stand to see someone else raise my son. If she had just had a boy then everything would have worked out. A part of me wanted to get to know my daughter, but I didn't know what to with her. If only she had had a boy, then maybe I could have figured something out. But I know how to do one thing with girls, and that is not something you do with your kid. The more Emily nagged me about it, the less I wanted to do it. I wish she would learn that already.
She hadn't asked me in a while to give the kid up, and I wouldn't even if Prince Charming himself pulled up on his white horse. I may get sick of her bullshit every once in a while, asking me to help her with the kid. But I dealt with that to make sure that no else was raising my kid.
At least if Emily had her, I could, in theory, jump into her life whenever I felt like it. I just hadn't felt like doing that yet. I had lots of time to get to know my kid, she was only two. Maybe when I didn't have to worry about spit up and diapers, she may be fun to do stuff with. Until then, I just didn't know how to deal with a baby.
I never claimed to by a good guy. Just cause I'm a cop chicks expect me to be some kind of White Knight. I'm not, I do my job, and sometimes I pick up chicks by doing so. It doesn't mean I'm the answer to their prayers. I loved my job, but if I was only it for the girls, then I'd have been a firefighter. Everyone knows they pick up more then the cops ever could.
"Are you even listening to me?" I heard Davis ask.
"Sorry, I spaced for a minute there," I replied.
"That's what I was trying to say, you need to grow up. You're a good cop, but your people skills are lacking."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"There is more to your job then just chasing bad guys. You need to understand that!"
'Where the hell is this coming from?"
He shook his head. "If you had been listening, you would have heard me bring up the last call we were on."
"What about it? That woman was nuts!"
"I know that, but you didn't have to make her feel uncomfortable."
"She needed a doctor, not a cop."
"Again, I know that, but until the medics got there it was our job to keep her calm."
"Like hell it was!"
"As much as you don't like that kind of thing, it is a part of your job. So is dealing with domestic cases when you're working with Kylie. You don't have to like every assignment, but you can't make the people feel uncomfortable man."
I shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry, I'll try harder next time."
He glared at me. "I'm serious man."
"What's the sudden interest in the way I handle myself on cases, anyway?"
"Boss wants me to report back, there have been a few complaints. I'm not supposed to tell you that you need to shape up or they'll ship you out."
"Out where?"
"Best case scenario some kind of sensitivity training, worst case to an unemployment line."
"Jesus, does this have to do with Kylie?"
"I doubt it. I don't even think she was the catalyst. You've just had a few complaints about how you treat people sometimes."
"So I'm supposed to feel sorry for them? What ever happened to not getting too involved?"
"There's a difference between not getting involved and acting like you want to be anywhere else."
I shook my head. "I'll try harder then."
"Don't shoot the messenger. I didn't have to tell you."
It wasn't him I was pissed off at, I thought I was good at my job, and then I find out from my partner that some people think I'm doing my job wrong, and I'm just supposed to grin and bare it? So I like the rough and tumble stuff better, isn't that why most people do that job? Not that I cared, I knew I was good at what I was doing, and I could pretend like I gave a shit about boring cases.
The bell on the diner door rang, and I looked up. I couldn't believe it, of all the diners in New York, Emily and Alex had to walk into the one we were at. I wondered if Davis had invited them. The waitress walked by our table.
"Wait!" said Alex. "Could we just sit here?"
"Yeah no problem," she replied, handing them each a menu.
Davis stood up, and they hugged, which too soon turned into a too long for comfort kiss.
"Get a room," both Emily and I grumbled, after she sat down next to me.
They pulled away then both sat down. I could tell that he had his hand on her thigh. Love was for loser, I thought to myself. Emily didn't look pleased about having to spend her lunch with me. I knew she was nice enough to let her friend be happy.
"Isn't it funny how we happened to be right near here," Alex laughed. "Emily said this place is really good."
"You've been living here how long and you've never been here?" I asked, trying to be nice.
She shrugged. "I must be missing out on something." She looked at the menu.
"I missed you," I heard Tyrone, try to whisper, she giggled, and kissed him lightly, hoping we wouldn't notice.
"So, Emily, how's Angela?" I asked.
"She's been asking about you," she replied.
"Maybe I'll come by on the weekend."
She nodded. "I'll tell her when you're ringing my doorbell."
"You don't have to be so nasty about it!"
"I'm sorry that I'm getting tired of seeing my daughter getting all excited cause she gets to see her daddy, only for her to be disappointed."
"Whatever."
"You don't have to believe me. But she gets really excited when she hears that you're coming. She brushes all her dolls hair, and won't stop talking about it. Then I get a call saying you can't make, and I have to listen to her bawling for an hour, asking me why Daddy didn't come visit her."
I never realized before that I had any effect on her, I hardly even saw her. I wasn't trying to upset her. I just had other things to do.
"I didn't ask to be her father, you know?"
"I didn't ask to be her mother, what's your point?"
"You just do the job better."
"Maybe if you'd try."
She was right, I hadn't really tried to be a father. If she would just leave me alone, and let me do things at my pace, then it would be fine. I didn't ask for the kid. I just wasn't ready to be a father yet. It's not like the kid would even remember if I was there or not.
"Look, I'll try," I said trying to shut her up. "Just stop nagging me!"
"I'll believe it when I see it."
One day I'd show her that I could be a father, but I just didn't see why it had to be that day. I could tell that Davis was getting annoyed with me.
"How about we just drop this for now?" I asked her. "I'll bring you out to supper and we can talk then?" I could tell Alex was trying to give her a cautionary look. I stared right into Emily's eyes, diverting her attention. "Please?"
"All right."
Alex sighed loudly, but I knew that she wouldn't go back on her word.
"How about we try and just enjoy our lunch?" I said, trying to change the subject.
We all ate in relative silence. No one sure what to say to anyone else. I knew that Davis would blast me when we got back to the car, but I didn't care. I didn't want my dirty laundry aired in front of the two of them. We got our bills, paid, and went to leave. Davis and Alex were kissing, and Emily had already left.
She pulled away, her arms around his neck. "Love you," she whispered, kissing him again.
"Love you, Baby," he replied, kissing her once more before, they started walking toward the door.
When I knew she was out of earshot I made the "whipped" sound.
"Grow up man!" Davis said, getting in the car.
"Don't try and tell me that's not whipped," I laughed.
He shrugged. "Look I care about her."
"She's a ball and chain."
"Hardly, I haven't even introduced her to my parents."
I laughed. "That's only cause you're worried about what they'll say when they find out you're with a white chick."
He shook his head. "They won't care about that. It's just not that serious yet."
"Whatever."
"You're a child you know that?"
I shook my head, and repeated. "Whatever."
He laughed. "You're just jealous!"
"Hardly!"
"You're just mad that you didn't get the first crack at the new meat!"
"Don't delude yourself. She's not my type."
"Here I thought your type was just skinny."
I shook my head. "Whatever man, we have work to do."
That was my friendship with my partner. I had his back when we were working, but if we hadn't been forced to spend so much time together we'd probably not get along. We just have different views on everything. I wasn't jealous of what he had, that was the exact thing I was trying to avoid. I knew it was what Emily was digging for, and when I really needed something, I'd play on that.
I'm not a bad person, I just know how to get what I want. Emily is special, she has my kid. I'm just not the settling down kind, and one day she'd get it through her head. I didn't like hurting her, but sometimes that was how it had to be.
The day was average, and I stopped by the station house to pick up Emily. Tyrone was leaving hand in hand with Alex as I came in. The two of them were laughing at some joke I had missed. I looked around for Emily, I figured she was changing, so I sat down. Only a few minutes later she came down, wearing something I had never seen her wear before. A blue "V' neck shirt, and tight black jeans.
"That's new," I commented.
"It's borrowed," she replied.
"Oh."
"So you said something about super?'
"Yeah, don't you have to pick up Angela?"
She shrugged. "Do you want me to?"
"I'd like it better just the two of us. You can come over and I can cook you some supper, and just you know, talk."
"That sounds good."
She knew that we would end up doing more then just talk. We went to my place, and I ended up making her a chicken stir fry. I cleaned up a little, then went into the other room to sit with her.
"Why don't you want to see Angela?" she asked me.
I shrugged. "I'll come on the weekend, I promise." She nodded, looking upset. "I'm busy till then, I'm sorry. Nothing will keep me away. I haven't seen her in so long."
She nodded. "She does miss you."
"What about you?"
She looked up at me. "What about me?"
"Do you miss me Em?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
I ran my hands through her hair, and we started kissing. Soon my lips were at the hollow of her neck, where I knew she could not resist. I knew how it all would end, but it was worth it, she was good.
It had been about a month since I had last been with Emily. I tried but could not bring myself to visiting with the kid, and she was not talking to me because of it. My mind wasn't really on the job, cause I couldn't help but think that maybe Emily had finally had enough, and would not forgive me this time.
It wasn't too bad though, the day was pretty slow, and we were assigned to be a lookout near where a drug raid was going to happen. It wasn't my favourite part of the job, but it could have been worse. At least there was a possibility of something interesting happening.
It was about five minutes till everything would go down, and I noticed a guy running away from the house we had been watching for the last two hours. Without even thinking, I tore off after him. All I cared about was not letting one drug dealer go. I knew it would only be a few minutes before the place would be crawling with officers. What was the worst that could happen?
Davis must have followed me. I was pretty much tunnel visioned on the guy I was chasing. Suddenly I heard a gun shot, followed by a second, from somewhere behind me. I glanced back to see where the shot had come from, only to see that my partner falling.
I must have gone into shock, because after that, everything began to blur. I was so mad at myself for getting him hurt. Before I was able to reach for my radio, I saw a whole bunch of people fleeing the area. What felt like only seconds after they all fled in different directions, everyone on standby had started to swarm. I had been in the process of picking up my radio, and dropped it.
Only moments later, a bus arrived on the scene. I realized that I had fucked up the whole operation. To make matters worse Emily and Alex were the two medics who had jumped of the bus. I couldn't make my feet move closer, to tell her to stay back. I didn't snap out of it until I heard him yell his name.
She was knelt in front of him. "Tyrone?" I heard her repeat, this time more calmly.He didn't respond.
I stood there in shock, while she seemed to push aside all her personal feeling aside. Her training came into full effect, and nothing that was going on around her was effecting her. There were cops all over her, wondering what the hell was going on and if he'd be all right. She seemed to do a pretty good job ignoring them.
"Will you give me some room!" she thundered finally, and everyone backed away.
She didn't even seem phased by the fact that it was her boyfriend she was working on. She just worked on him like I had seen her work on dozens of people before. While she was playing the hero, I stood where I was, frozen, and not able to do anything.
I heard Emily ask, "Dylan, are you all right?"
"Huh?" I replied, somewhat snapping out of it.
"You're riding up front with me," she said, taking my hand, and leading me to the bus. "I think you're in shock you need to get to the hospital too. Just stay put until we load Davis in."
I nodded knowing, I wouldn't be able to move if I tried. "Is Davis going to be all right?"
"His vital signs are good. He has a wound that grazed the back of his neck, that I don't think did too much damage. A second bullet his arm, and only the doctors will be able to explain the extent of the damage."
I'm not even sure how she got me sat down, but she did. I didn't really see them loading him onto the rig. Until we took off, Emily was driving, which meant that Alex was somehow still working on Davis, just like she would have with any patient.
"You're going to be all right?" she heard her tell him. "You'll probably need surgery, but you'll be all right."
"Alex?" I heard him grumble.
"Shh, okay, Baby," she whispered. "I'm going to give you a sedative."
I didn't hear another word from either of them. I was slightly more alert, and doddled along behind them as they brought him into the trauma room.
I knew that after the doctors looked at me I'd get a blast from the boss. I was looked at quickly, then told to sit in one of the quiet rooms until they could make sure that I was just in shock.
I certainly was not expecting what happened next. I saw Alex come into the room, and she looked pissed.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"I went after someone, Davis must have followed me," I explained.
"How is that Mr. rough and tumble ready to shoot them all is fine, while he's –?" she couldn't even finish the sentence.
"I don't know!"
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"Back the truck up! You're blaming me for all of this?"
"Yeah, I do blame you! If you ever did anything by the books, then maybe he wouldn't be on that table!"
"He didn't have to follow."
"And what would a few more minutes have meant?"
"What the hell?"
"We were on stand-by! Five minutes to what we thought was go time! Then we get a call saying to move in, quick because an officer was down. So why couldn't you just wait?"
"He would have gotten away!"
She shook her head. "The way I see it your over-zealousness let them all get away. Everyone, but your partner that is. Think about that for a minute! If you had just sat on your hands, then maybe the bad guys would be the ones I'd have had to save."
"Oh fuck you!"
"Fuck yourself! If anything happens to him, remember it's on your head!"
She stormed out of the room, and I didn't see her for a while after that. She was hot headed, I never really pegged her as the type that would do that. They say love does stupid things to you, but I never thought it could make a person react like that.
From what I could tell she was actually still going on runs while he was in surgery. Every time I saw her she was talking to a nurse, probably getting updates. I just sat in the same room where she had reamed me, trying to stay out of the way. I knew that the boss would be there soon, to give me even more grief that I couldn't deal with.
I must have dozed off cause, he woke me up.
"Mathews!" he hollered.
"Yes, Sir!" I replied, sitting up straighter when I was fully awake.
"What the hell happened out there?"
"I saw someone fleeing the building, I didn't want him to get away. So I took off after him, Davis must have followed. When I heard the shots I stopped."
"Why didn't you wait for the operation to start?"
"I didn't want the guy to get away." I repeated.
"Thanks to that choice, not only is your partner in surgery, but everyone in the operation got away."
"I know."
"That's why there's protocol!"
"I know."
"You managed to completely ruin three months of a drug raid, in one split second decision. I really wish you'd think before you acted once in a while Mathews!"
"I'll try."
He shook his head. "You had better. While Davis is out, you're going to be with Kenny. If you step out of line, you both will be assigned exclusively to domestic."
I shrugged, it's not like I had a choice in the matter. Kylie was going to be pissed when she found out about the assignment.
"You could learn a thing or two from her, you know?" he added. "She's by the book, and I hope that it rubs off on you."
I nodded. "Are you saying Davis isn't?"
"I never said that. Davis just lets you get away with more."
"It's not like Kenny's my supervisor."
"No, but she will be reporting back to me on a regular basis."
"All right boss."
"Take tomorrow off, and you'll start with Kenny on Monday."
"Sure thing."
He left the room, and a few minutes later Kylie came in. Holding a cup of coffee.
"So he told you the news?" she asked.
"Yup," I replied.
"So I get the job of babysitting you."
"I don't think it's quiet that bad."
She slammed the empty coffee cup on the table. "That's what I'd call it! Not only do I have to work with you, but I need to make reports on what you're doing out there."
"Don't you go thinking this is going to be a cakewalk for me."
"You get to do your regular job. I just got handed a much bigger pile of shit, and what do I get for it?" I shrugged. "A fucking headache!"
"You know what, I've been chewed out by enough people, I really don't need you to be on that list. I know how you feel about me, so how about we just try and make the best of a bad situation?"
"Fine. What happened out there?"
I shook my head. "I decided I couldn't let one drug dealer go, so I took off about five minutes before everything was set do go down. Not only did an entire gang of dealers get away, but my partner could have gotten a bullet in the neck!"
"I thought it hit his arm?"
"One grazed the back of his neck. I'm not really sure where the shots came from, and whoever did it, is still out there. There's not going to be anything to trace the guy, and there's not even anyone who was caught to squeeze for the shooter's name."
"I had no idea."
"Spare me your fake sympathy."
"Fine, there's no use reasoning with you anyway!"
She left, slamming the door behind her. I sat down again. All I really wanted was a stiff drink and a good lay. I wasn't going to get any of that until I knew that Davis had made it through surgery with no problems.
I must have dozed off again, because a nurse woke me.
"Officer Mathews," she said softly.
I opened my eyes, she was hot, I didn't remember meeting her before.
"Please," I said softly. "Call me Dylan."
She smiled, blushing slightly. "All right – Dylan. Your partner is out of surgery, he's just waking up. You can see him if you'd like."
I shook my head. "He'd slug me if this was the first mug he saw as soon as he woke up."
She smiled. "All right then."
"Could you do me a favour though?"
She nodded. "Sure."
"If you see a medic in here, named Alex, she's got long brown hair in a ponytail, she works with another girl with long curly hair, that looks like a pom-pom in a pony tail; could you tell her that Davis is up?"
"Sure, thing."
I smiled at her. "Thank you, you're a real help." She grinned. "Maybe we could get a coffee sometime."
She laughed. "Maybe. I have to go, I have rounds to make."
"I understand. See you around, I'm sorry I missed your name."
"Stacie."
"All right, I'll remember that. Until next time Stacie, I'm here more then I'd like."
She smiled, and we both left the room. I decided to go home. I knew that Davis wouldn't want to see me that night. I got home, unlocked the door, and realized I hadn't eaten in hours, and I didn't have anything in the house that was edible. I looked around at the mess of my apartment. There were half empty pizza boxes lying everywhere, and a few old Chinese take out boxes.
I'd really had to clean the place up. I hadn't even tied up since Emily was last over. I looked at the small place, and realized that I was missing something. Maybe it was just the day weighing on me, but actually felt lonely, like I never had before.
I cleared some of the boxes, but it didn't help much. My place was just depressing, and at that point so was my life. I had a kid I never saw. I could easily have a great girl, if only I'd be honest with her, and I was more interested in getting nurse's numbers when I was in the ER, while my partner was stuck in the hospital overnight. It was my fault he could have died, all because I was a stubborn ass who refused to wait five minutes for backup.
I went into my bedroom, which looked much better then the rest of the apartment. I laid down on my king sized water bed, and just stared up at the ceiling.
I rolled over to the side with the phone, and started dialing a number. Right before I hit the last digit, I hung up. I thought for a moment about the person who I was going to call. She was special, and she did deserve more from me, and so did her daughter, our daughter. I picked up the phone again, but this time wasn't even able to dial four digits. I slammed the phone down, then threw across the room.
"I don't need her!" I yelled at no one. "I don't need either of them, I'm just fine the way I am!"
Even though I usually would have gone to bed later then that I fell asleep. It had been a hard day and was hardly able to keep my eyes open. My dreams that night were nightmares. Some were about a grown up Angela telling me where to shove it. Others were about Emily with another man who played daddy to my little girl. Most of them, however, were about my partner, a good guy, who had a great thing going, stuck with me as a partner, and getting killed.
I woke up, and realized he was the one who was almost killed. Davis who was one of the best cops I had ever seen, who came from a line of great cops, and great people. I had met his parents, they were good people. But he the one that almost died, while this sorry ass was not only alive, but didn't have a scrape on him. I was a person who was not even thinking about picking up the pieces of his sorry life. I believed that only the good die young, and Davis' brush with death proved it.
The guy who should get the Prince Charming award nearly got a bullet through the neck. While the son of a bitch who couldn't even find the nads to see his own daughter didn't even get a bump. What a stupid fucked up world we live in, even without looking at the sorry state of politics, I knew it was one fucked up world we lived in. Where the good are hurt, while the not so good are the ones inflicting the pain.
I wasn't a cop to change that in the world. I became a cop cause someone told me that women liked a man in uniform. I would have been a firefighter if someone had told me sooner that women can't resist the ruggedly handsome firefighter. That's my life, I'm Dylan Mathews, currently winning the race for the biggest swine award. Maybe one day I'd crawl out the shit I liked to wallow in, and do something about it.
end
end notes: that turned out better then i had planned, i suck at writing action scenes that's why i copped out, sorry... next up Tyrone, tell me what 'ya think!