Roots and Seeds
a Law and Order: CI story
by RoadrunnerGER
Disclaimer: Dick Wolf still has not agreed to sell them, so they're not mine. This is just for fun and practice.
A/N: Okay, the first chapters developed a little slowly. Let's see if we can't change that. Special thanks to Bammi1 for beta-reading. Enjoy!
Chapter 9
It was late afternoon when Bobby strolled down a street in Brooklyn. How he got there he hardly knew. Suddenly he found himself here and he was drawn to one of the run-down houses. The neighborhood was not one of the most dangerous ones, but it still harbored many dubious people.
No one had answered Bobby's repeated calls and so he got increasingly agitated which resulted in him stopping by. Now he stood in front of the house and could not decide to go inside.
Oh, c'mon, Bobby. Don't chicken out now!
So he grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. The stairwell was run-down, too, but it was clean as far as he could see. He climbed up to the third floor and found the door to Frankie's apartment. His knocks on the door remained as unanswered as his calls.
"Frankie?" Bobby shouted. "Frankie, it's me, Bobby!"
Still no reaction.
Usually Bobby would have assumed that his brother just was not home, but something held him back from just turning around and leaving. A peculiar feeling settled in his stomach and he wondered what it was. Leaning closer to the door he sniffed.
A deep frown creased his forehead.
His insides started to rumble with anxiety. He sensed that something had happened, he just could not tell what it was.
"Frankie?"
No answer.
When Bobby tried the door he was not really surprised that it opened to his half-hearted attempts at breaking in. He just had rattled on it a little and the lock gave way.
"Frankie?"
Pushing the door open Bobby knew at once that he would never get an answer again. He was way too familiar with the smell that greeted him.
"Frankie," he breathed tonelessly.
He did not even draw his weapon. By the stench alone he could tell that no one else was there. No one just sat around where it smelled so distinctly like death.
Bobby found his brother in the living room, sprawled on the sofa. Given the state his body was in Bobby did not have to be a medical examiner to know that he had been dead for days. Slapping his hand over his mouth Bobby staggered backwards into the wall.
No!
Over and over the scream repeated itself inside of him. His ribcage felt like a broad belt was ever tightening around it, squeezing hard, and his heart pounded as if it would burst out of his chest. He could not breathe. Guilt formed a cold hard lump in his stomach.
It took a few minutes before he was able to call the police.
xXx
"Dead?" Alex could not believe it.
Now she could also not believe that she had been angry with him that he came home so late… without the groceries he was supposed to buy. He had called earlier and told her that he would come back a little later because he wanted to stop by at his brother's place because the jerk avoided his calls, and when Bobby did not come back Alex started to worry. Frank once had stabbed his brother when Bobby did not want to help him out with money that he would only have taken to the race track or bought drugs.
When Bobby came into Ronny's room where Alex was rocking in her new chair with Ronny in her arms, giving him his dinner, he had been short with her and she became angry.
Now that Alex sat on the sofa in the living room and heard about the reason she felt foolish.
"Yes. It looks like an overdose. Rodgers will do an autopsy."
"Oh, Bobby, I'm sorry," Alex said. "I'm sorry that I reacted so angrily earlier and I'm sorry for your loss."
He just nodded.
Slumping in his favorite easy chair Bobby just stared ahead. He had not said much since he was back home. He just sat there, fixating a spot on the floor, or rather a place in another galaxy.
Minute after minute passed in silence until Alex felt the urge to break it. So she told him, "You had the right to be angry with him."
Bobby did not react and she wondered if he actually heard her.
"Bobby?"
Nothing.
"It's not your fault that he's dead."
"Too late," Bobby murmured so lowly that Alex almost missed it had he not moved his lips.
"What's too late, Bobby?"
But he continued to stare at unknown places or passed times.
"You're angry at him for leaving you behind like that, right?"
"Too late," he just whispered.
Still Alex was not sure what he meant by that. Her direct question got no answer out of him. She sighed, fearing that she probably would have a long night ahead, waiting for him to start talking. Knowing Bobby she also expected it to become a long conversation.
"M-my… decision," he suddenly murmured. "I… I called too late."
"You mean he already was dead before you even tried to reach him?" With dread Alex awaited his response.
"Yes."
"Oh."
She was not sure how to react. Alex just wanted to go to him and hug him, tell him that everything would be alright, but a voice in the back of her head warned her. He would not take it well if she searched for closeness with him right now.
"I guess…" Silence. "Rodgers will have to confirm it, but… I think that he was already… dead when… when Ronny was born."
Oh, my God.
Alex bit back any comment.
"When we… I found dates entered in his calendar, group meetings. He went to drug counseling." Bobby sniffled. His voice was toneless. "But on the coffee table was a crack pipe. He was still using."
Glad that he finally started to talk Alex did not dare to interrupt him now, or prod him with questions as he fell silent again. She knew that he would talk eventually.
"One of the traces CSU secured was a blond hair in the sink of his kitchen, another the glasses on the table. It looked like Frank drank with someone. We'll have to wait and see if we'll get foreign DNA from the glass."
Alex nodded her confirmation. That's a good sign. He keeps his eye on the professional focus, too.
Suddenly a tremor passed Bobby's big frame and he sucked in a shuddering breath. He shook his head, trying to remain in control, but it was too much. With another gasp he lost his fight against his emotions and tears ran over his cheeks.
"Frankie!" he whined and covered his face with both hands.
"Shhh!"
Now Alex scrambled up from the couch and hurried over to his side. She sat on the armrest of the easy chair and pulled him into a soothing embrace.
First his mother and now Frankie. If it wouldn't be for Ronny and me, and Lewis, he'd be all alone in the world now. I guess that's what he's feeling like right now. Abandoned.
Humming a soft, soothing melody she hugged him to her chest and rocked gently forward and back, like she did with their son, too.
tbc…