A/N Hello, anyone still trying to read this. They have finally started sort of talking to me again. I cant promise it will be a regular conversation, so I dont know how often I will be able to post anything. I hated putting this one on hiatus, as its my favorite of all my stories, so I am trying to keep faithful to the characters and not rush it. This is a really short chapter, but I thought I would throw it out there to let you know they were talking again. There will be some dark, some light and some time jumps to avoid the tedium that is endemic in the world of Law enforcement.
Warning- There is hate speech in this chapter. Once again, if you have never heard any of this, you have led a very lucky and sheltered life.
Time had flown past since the training academy incident. Jasper had started his undercover assignment and had virtually dropped out of sight of the rest of the department except on the rare occasions he attended a training or a meeting. Spending time together had actually become a little easier for us. With me banged up and unable to get around as well, he used the excuse of helping out around my ranch as the reason he was coming out to my place every weekend. McCarty was tied up with Rose most of the time, so he wasn't breathing down my neck about how I was treating Jasper, but things had changed between us. I still maintained my distance and ignored him or any mentions of him at the office, but when we were alone, I was able to let him know he was important to me and that I did, in fact give a damn about him. I didn't know what the future would bring, and I didn't know how in the hell we could expect to have any kind of life together, but as long as I was gimping around, he was able to come out and play farm hand and no one was the wiser, or so we thought.
Emmet POV
The Gunny suspected. You hear things in locker rooms and in training sessions and even at choir practice, that oddly named decompression session that often took place after a stressful incident where cops got together and drank until they couldn't see straight and commiserated about the scene that they had worked. It was during one of those booze soaked sessions out at the firing range that Emmett heard things that made his blood run cold."That lil buddy of yours is a faggot isn't he? I know you aint queer because you are hooked up with Rose, but that lil fella is as queer as a 3 dollar bill and I am willing to bet my badge Cullen is puttin it to him." The Gunny glared at him balefully as the rest of his crew silently regarded Emmett.
"I couldn't tell you, Sir. I keep my business to myself and he does the same." Emmett didn't know what to do, he was outnumbered and damn sure out gunned. The Gunny grinned and took another deep swig of his beer. " I always figure Cullen for a queer. He thinks he is smart and is hiding it, but I aint stupid, but we aint going to let them embarrass the department. That kinda stuff shouldn't be going on round here and we intend to put a stop to it. Cullen was normal til that lil queer come around, and I figure if we get rid of that lil queer, Cullen will go back to normal."
Emmett's blood ran cold. He knew that he really couldn't go to the command staff with this information. He had already seen that the Gunny was pretty much bullet proof for any of his misbehaviors, and though Emmett had lots of friends within the department, he was still considered a, "New Boot" and therefore at high risk for ending up at the wrong end of many of the bad things that could happen to new officers. He didn't want to risk his career or his relationship with Rose, so he made the decision to tell Jasper what he had heard, give him a "heads up" about the danger he and Cullen were in, but he knew trying to take it take it to anyone else would just result in denials on Gunnys behalf and he would be labeled a, 'Snitch", but the men he worked with and counted on to cover his back in dangerous situations. He would tell Jasper and Cullen and let them know they needed to watch their backs, but he was stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to trying to do anything else about it. Lives were now on the line, he could only hope that he was able to get the word out in time and protect his buddy as best he could, while covering his own ass and preserving his new life.