Jack and Jeanette
"Hey, can I tell you something?" Thea asked, carrying a box into Jude's new house, helping her sister unload the moving van which had just arrived.
"Yeah?" Jude looked over.
"You have a lot of crap." Thea nodded, "A lot of heavy crap."
"It's not all mine." Jude scoffed as Thea dropped the box down, "Hey, careful." She batted whilst Cassie appeared with a box, also volunteering to help her sister.
The air wasn't fully clear between them. It was still taking both Cassie and Theo some time to get used to Sean being in charge at the station and the situation that lead him there, but things were definitely getting better.
"Why is everything so heavy?" Cassie complained, "I've dragged people across the street that weigh less than these boxes." She shook her head, sitting the box down which she was holding, massaging her lower back.
"Yeah, so have I." Thea added as Cassie turned to her.
"I'm referring to my job… what are you-"
"You don't need to know." Thea waved her hand, "Jude, we had to get reinforcements. There's way too much boxes and we're never gonna get them out in the time those moving guys want us to." She said.
"Reinforcements?" Jude questioned.
"Hello." Punk appeared into the living room with a smile, Dean following him as Jude rolled her eyes.
"You didn't try mom and aunt Renee first?" Jude asked.
"I did." Thea assured her, "Both working. So I got them instead." Thea nodded.
"Happy to help." Dean smiled, placing his hands in his pockets, "Nice house." He nodded, pinching behind Cassie's neck playfully as she turned to look at him, watching as he turned the other way from her, pretending it wasn't him who had pinched her. He'd done it since she was a kid. It only made her smile now.
"Thank you." Jude said, "Ok well thanks for coming to help. I thought we could have managed." She shrugged.
"You should have called and asked. As if we have anything better to do." Punk teased as Jude nodded.
"Thanks." She nodded, not sure how to take the comment, shaking her head regardless, "Ok, the boxes that are labelled as art, they're going into the garage." She told them, "Everything else can get dumped in here for me to sort through." She said.
"Ok, sweet." Dean nodded, wandering off to get started.
"Be careful with the art boxes!" Jude ran after him outside.
"So…" Punk turned to Thea and Cassie, "We all best friends again?" He smiled happily, specifically looking at Cassie.
"We're… getting there." Cassie nodded.
"Good." Punk smiled, watching Thea looking at her phone for the time, "You got somewhere to be?"
"No, I'm just… checking to see when I can go for another cigarette." Thea nodded as Cassie rolled her eyes.
"You just went for one." Cassie shook her head, "Just… go get another box." She told her sister as Thea left the living room and headed back outside to the moving van in the street.
"So how has Theo been doing back at work? And you? How is the new division going?" He asked her.
"Theo's good." Cassie nodded, "It's like he's never been gone. I don't know how he does that." She shook her head, "He's just been getting his feet wet this first week. Going on patrol. Catching up to speed. Annoying me." She added as he smiled, "And I'm doing alright." She nodded, beginning to walk out of the house with him outside whilst the others passed them with boxes.
"You know if you're not up to it… you can say no." Punk said, "I know nothing about being a cop but… I know working in homicide probably isn't the easiest. Are you ok about it all? Dead bodies and stuff?" He asked her.
"Dad, I've seen dead bodies before." Cassie smiled a little, realising he was just being a dad.
"Yeah I know but… it's a lot." He said worriedly.
"It is but… pretend I didn't say this but Sean is right, it's a challenge and it'll be a good move for me." Cassie nodded, "I'll be fine." She assured him.
"Yeah I know." Punk nodded, "No word from the adoption agency yet?" He asked, heading to the back of the van, grabbing a box.
"Not a thing." Cassie said.
"I might start sending threatening letters on your behalf." Punk nodded teasingly, "Give my damn daughter a baby." He nodded seriously, wandering away with the box into the house as Cassie smiled to herself.
"Hey, there's the hard workers." AJ smiled, watching as Punk and Dean came through to the kitchen later that night, looking rather exhausted.
"Here we are." Dean nodded, "Jude has a lot of shit." He shook his head, heading for the fridge immediately to see what he could find to eat.
"Did you guys manage to get everything out of the van?" AJ asked.
"Yeah, us and us alone." Punk shook his head, "Thea spent more time smoking and Cassie got called into work eventually."
"Well I'm sure Jude really appreciated it." AJ said, "There's some leftover dinner there. I made extra cause I figured you'd both be extra hungry." She nodded.
"Bless you, Ms Mendez." Dean nodded, heading straight for the leftovers whilst Punk walked over to her and gave her a kiss and hug hello.
"How was work?" He asked her.
"It was good." AJ nodded, "Productive."
"It's what we like to hear." Punk said.
"Why don't you just fully retire?" Dean asked, "You're in the office like two days now. What's the point?" He looked over at AJ.
"The point is I enjoy it. And whilst I do enjoy being a lady of leisure, I always enjoyed my job. I'm not ready to be fully done with it yet." She shook her head.
"Why don't the three of us all admit it." Dean nodded as Punk looked over at him.
"Admit what?" Punk asked.
"Why we don't want to retire." Dean said as AJ and Punk looked at him, "Cause we're batshit scared." He nodded as AJ rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"Don't be ridiculous." AJ shook her head as Dean shrugged.
"It's true. You can deny it all you want." Dean said, "If the three of us don't have some kind of stimulation in our lives… then what?" He asked, standing across the kitchen from them, "But here's the thing… I don't wanna work myself into a grave."
"If I wanted to retire tomorrow, I would." AJ assured him as Punk stayed quiet, "And so could both of you."
"You could, but you'd be worried." Dean nodded, "C'mon." He looked at them both, "Look at where we've came from. The lives we've lived. I don't know about you guys but getting up every morning and going to work is what kept me ticking over. Kept me sane." He said, "It's the thing that keeps me my mind off everything. Everything I don't wanna be thinking about."
"So what? You think if we all stop working and retire we're all gonna break? Go crazy?" AJ questioned.
"Yes?" Dean nodded, as if it was obvious.
"Don't be so stupid." AJ scoffed, turning to Punk for backup, noticing he wasn't saying anything, "You're with him on this?"
"I mean…" Punk ran his hand through his hair, "He's got a point."
"I don't know if I've worked through my shit more than you guys have but I am very much old enough to know my worth now. I finally feel free of everything that's happened. My children are all happy and thriving. My grandchildren are the sweetest things. I'm financially stable. I have a beautiful home." She nodded.
"Beautiful husband." Punk nodded seriously.
"It's true." AJ agreed, looking over at Dean, "I have spent way too much of my life feeling like I'm close to going crazy." She said, "I am very much at peace now. In fact… I'm the happiest I've ever been." She nodded as Punk and Dean looked at her.
"Well… you did always take care of us." Dean nodded.
"I wasn't aware there was anything to take care of anymore." AJ said sadly, looking to and from them, "Is there something you guys aren't telling me?"
"No." Punk shook his head truthfully.
"Ok well…" AJ put her hands up a little, not knowing what else to say, "Do you… both need some help?" She shook her head, "Do you guys need to talk to someone?"
"No." Dean shook his head, "God, I don't know… it sounds stupid, I know. It's just… it's like an identity crisis or something. If I retire I feel like I'm getting closer to that unemployed version of me that did cocaine and slept with women twice his age." He shook his head.
"Dean." AJ sighed, "You weren't unemployed." She said, her heart breaking a little, "You were a kid." She reminded him, looking across at him as he stood quietly. She turned to Punk and saw he was quiet too. She felt their fear. She could see, every day, they still hurt for the younger versions of themselves. She did too, but she now figured she'd found a way of dealing with it, more so than they had.
"Alright, you wanna know what I do?" She asked them as they looked at her, "Jeanette." She nodded as Punk shook his head with confusion.
"Huh?" He shook his head.
"That's who that mixed up, struggling, lonely girl is to me now." AJ nodded, "Jeanette. I'm proud of her and I recognise it took her to get me here. But I've let her go. I've mourned her. I've felt sorry for her. I've been mad at her. But I've let her go." She said, "You guys got middle names. Try it."
"Yeah I don't think that's gonna help." Punk shook his head.
"Try it." AJ shrugged, "It's made it easier to move on for me." She said, "Please don't be afraid to finally be at peace." She told them.
"Easier said than done." Dean nodded.
"Jack was the dumbest motherfucker I ever met." Punk nodded, beginning to see where AJ was coming from. Both Dean and AJ turned to him, watching him laugh a little, which caused them to both chuckle.
"Yeah he fucking was." Dean chuckled as AJ smiled.
"What the hell is this?" Eighteen year old Punk threw a crinkled up piece of paper onto the motel bed where AJ was sat in the centre of with her legs in a basket, looking on at Punk and Dean standing at the end.
"What?" AJ shook her head, taking the piece of paper and looking at it, "Is this… wait, is this me?" She screwed her eyes up, looking at the hand drawn portrait below the word "warning" written in bold.
"They're all over the L stops." Punk said.
"Is my nose really that big?" AJ shook her head, horrified.
"They also called you Mexican." Dean pointed out as AJ looked at the information written below the picture.
"You gotta stop stealing from people." Punk nodded, "You're gonna get caught. People are actually keeping an eye out for you now."
"I'm not even stealing big things." AJ scoffed, laying back onto the mattress.
"You took a women's purse last night." Dean said.
"It was a small purse." AJ defended, sitting up again and looking at them both, "Look at you both. Saints. Carved by angels." She nodded sarcastically as Dean smiled a little.
"Angels?" Dean smiled happily as AJ glared at him.
"I know you guys are getting close to Rio. So don't come at me with those disappointing dad stares, alright?" She shook her head, getting off the bed, "You know, sometimes I get really sick of both of you." She nodded childishly, storming into the bathroom and slamming the door shut.
"She says that like we're a package." Dean shook his head as Punk ran his hand through his blonde hair.
"You mind going for a smoke or something?" Punk turned to him, "I wanna talk to her."
"I was going anyway." Dean walked over to the table by the sofa in the corner, the table which had cash sitting on it in different piles, "I'm going to the library." He nodded, picking up his cigarettes from the table.
"To do what?" Punk asked.
"You don't wanna know." Dean nodded, leaving the motel and closing the door behind him whilst Punk walked over to the bathroom.
"Can I come in?" Punk knocked at the door, walking in anyway where he saw AJ sitting on the closed toilet seat, "You alright?"
"I don't need you making me feel like a piece of shit. How else are we supposed to eat?" She shook her head, quickly brushing her tears away, "I don't hurt anyone." She defended.
"I know you don't." Punk said quietly, crouching down in front of her as she looked down at him, "I just don't wanna see you get into trouble. Big trouble." He said, "I'm not just talking about the cops. If you take something from the wrong person… someone could… knock you out." He shook his head at the thought.
"Yeah, as if." AJ shook her head, "This is a skill I've mastered, you know."
"I know." Punk smiled a little, "You don't gotta do it, though. We'll be alright." He nodded.
"Is my nose really that big?" She asked him seriously.
"No, they did you dirty." Punk nodded.
"I think so too." She said, picking at her finger nails, "I'm on my period and there's no tampons." She said quietly. There was so many humiliating factors that came with being homeless for them beyond just not having a home or food.
"Ok, we can get you some." Punk nodded.
"We've not got much money left right now." AJ shook her head, "And I'd rather eat." She nodded, "Those people have those posters up of me everywhere, acting like I'm some kind of menace, danger to society… and I'm sat here wondering whether I wanna eat tonight or be able to use a damn tampon." She shook her head, "They don't get to judge me. They don't know anything about me." She said angrily.
"I know they don't." Punk nodded, "I'm just worried about your safety." He said.
"I don't put everything in the trash." AJ told him as he shook his head with confusion, "The things I steal." She turned around, opening up the top of the toilet and pulling out a box, "If I steal purses or wallets… sometimes people got pictures in them." She explained, "I've put them all in this box."
Punk looked at the box, taking out some of the wallet size pictures, mostly of kids and families together, reminders which people kept in their wallets.
"I hope one day my wallet has a picture of a family in it." AJ nodded.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Me too." He agreed, sitting the pictures back in the box.
"Maybe I could sit this box at the L stops and write a little note on top, apologising. So people can get their pictures back." She nodded as Punk sighed.
"I don't know if that'd be a good idea." He said as she nodded.
"Yeah, probably not." AJ said, sitting the box back in the top of the toilet, closing the lid back over.
"I can go out and get what you need." He told her, "And we'll have enough for food… in a few hours." He estimated.
"You're going back out again tonight?" AJ suspected as Punk nodded, "My L hopping is a lot less dangerous than what you're doing." She said quietly.
"I'm alright." He smiled, flicking her chin playfully, "I am going to get you the best damn tampons the store has to offer." He stood up confidently as AJ smiled.
"The ones with the pink wrappers?" AJ asked.
"The ones with the pink wrappers." He pointed to her as she chuckled, watching as he leaned down, feeling his lips against hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
