Ugh, I hit a terrible bout of writers block but here it is finally. Shorter than most have been lately but oh well, enjoy muffins :)
"How could you not tell me that coppers came by to see you?!" Pete questioned roughly and Josie's grip on the steering wheel tightened noticeably.
"Oh I don't know Pete," she responded through gritted teeth, "Maybe because up until two days ago you were in a coma and only just got out of the hospital this morning?"
Pete sighed, rubbing his hands over his head in frustration, "Fuck!" he cried out as he slammed his fist into the dashboard causing Josie to jump slightly and her eyes widen in alarm. He noticed the slight look of fear on her face and bit down on his lip hard. Reaching a hand out, he gently pried her left hand off the steering wheel and squeezed it gently, rubbing his thumb over her engagement ring, "I'm sorry Joze, I'm takin' this out on the wrong person."
"It's ok," she mumbled, trying to smile reassuringly at Pete but failing miserably as she continued to drive as quickly as she dared to the police station. She bit her lip, trying to concentrate on the warmth of Pete's hand in hers and the feel of his fingers across softly rubbing her knuckles but all she could think about was the men leading Steve out of the bar, accusing him of…murder, she thought with a shudder.
The rest of the ride passed in silence with Pete staring out the window, shaking his good leg nervously while clenching Josie's hand tightly in his. How could this have happened? He thought, mind running in overdrive as he thought back to that fateful day – the day Steve left the GSE:
"Holy fuck," Pete whispered as he sat in the quiet of the kitchen, seated across the table from Steve after hearing about what his brother had supposedly seen, "Dead?" he managed to get the word out, disbelief etched on his face.
"Yes," Steve whispered, closing his eyes, only seeing the vision of the young boy being crushed under the boots of men he grew up with, men he fought with – men he loved like brothers.
"Fuck me," Pete breathed out, rubbing his head and wincing at the state his knuckles were in from his own fighting. Tommy Hatcher's son was dead – and it was the GSE's fault, there'd be hell to pay, that was for sure. "What're you gonna do?"
Steve took a deep breath, running a hand through his shoulder-length, blonde hair pulling at the ends roughly, "I'm out," he managed to choke out to his younger brother. Pete's eyes widened and narrowed.
"Out?" Pete asked, there's no way he's saying what I think he's saying, he thought in disbelief.
"I'm not doin' this shit anymore Pete – I'm not goin' to any more matches, no more Abbey – I'm leavin' the GSE," he said with no emotion.
Pete shoved out of his chair, jumping to his feet as he stared down at his brother, "Leave the GSE! Bruv – yer 'avin a bubble, it was just an accident, coulda happened to any number of blokes." He said but backed up when he saw the fury on Steve's face.
"An accident?" Steve whispered coldly, gripping the edge of the table, "A little boy is dead, Pete – dead. And do you know 'os fault that is?"
"Bruv, it ain – " he tried to reason with him, make him see that this would blow over and that the fuckin' Major could not leave the GSE. Before he could get the words out, Steve was on his feet, a deadly look in his eye.
"Don't," Steve hissed, "It was my Firm that just stomped the life outta the son of an enemy. My Firm, my fault – I'm out." He said, striding out the door and away from the life of the GSE.
"Pete?" Josie's voice broke through his memories and he turned to stare into her concerned brown eyes, "We're here."
He glanced through the windshield to see New Scotland Yard looming over them, "Great –" he said without emotion. He opened the door carefully stepping out gingerly, feeling slightly aggravated when Josie came around and securely wrapped her arm around his waist, "Thanks," he said roughly, feeling helpless at the fact that his girlfriend had to help him walk.
Josie rolled her eyes, "Pete – stop," she said forcefully as she pulled him to a stop, "I get you feel emasculated that I'm trying to help you but suck it up – you need me. And you need to understand that your life is my life now, so quit pissing and moaning. We've more important matters to deal with right now," she said softly, trying to reason with him that he needed her.
Pete stared into Josie's eyes, feeling his heart sink at the way she pled with him. First he nearly gets himself killed and now he was still hurting her with his stubbornness, "I'm sorry baby, I'm just gettin' used to bein' up and about and all of a sudden I wake to find a changed world. I don't mean to take it out on you…" he trailed off, choosing instead to place a hard kiss on her lips. "I love you," he said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
"S'not fair," she mumbled against his lips, "You kiss me and I immediately forget all the shit you've pulled."
He gave a slight smirk at her before remembering where they were and what still lay ahead of them, "Ditto – now let's go deal with another fuckin' disaster. Ya know, my life used to be relatively normal until you stumbled into it."
"Bite me Dunham because I highly doubt that. Now, come on." She said with a slight smile on her face that was quickly erased as they walked hand in hand into the building towards whatever lay in store for Steve and by extension Pete and the GSE, ignorant of the steel gray eyes that followed their path with delighted interest.
Three hours later Josie was scrunched up in a chair with her head on Pete's lap, fighting to keep her eyes open. Pete shifted uncomfortably and out of the corner of her eye she saw him bite his lip in an effort to hide the grimace of pain, "You alright?" she asked softly.
Pete nodded, still biting on his lip hard but voicing his concern through the pain, "Christ what the fuck can they possibly be askin' him? I don't know why he didn't just say no."
Josie rolled her eyes at him, "Doesn't really work that way." She mumbled before staring up at him in concern. She reached a hand out and touched his cheek softly, "How's the leg?" she questioned casually.
"Its fine," he mumbled through clenched teeth.
"You are just a terrible liar," Josie said quietly as she sat up then pulled herself into a standing position.
Pete looked up at her startled, "Where 're you goin'?"
"Your leg hurts," she arched an eyebrow at him, holding her hand up to stop the inevitable protest, "There are some painkillers in the car so I'm going to go out and grab them."
Josie rolled her eyes again as he went to stand, "I'll come with you – it's a bit late to be wanderin' about alone."
"Pete – the building I'll be outside of is the police station, if I'm not safe here well then…this city has a terrible hooligan problem," she said with a slight smile. "I'll be back before you have time to miss me."
"Not bloody likely Joze, but hurry, yeah?"
Josie nodded her head slightly as she walked quickly down the hall and out to the car.
"Now – had you been drinking that day Mr. Dunham?"
Steve rubbed his temples tiredly, wincing at the pain that still emanated from his throat, "It was seven years ago…I – I ah, I don't know, probably…" he trailed off stupidly.
He jumped as the detective's hands banged down onto the cold, steel table he was seated behind, "Bullshit. All you boys do is drink before those matches then you go to the match, cheer a bit and beat the fuck out of little kids."
"DiNozzo – enough, get out." Detective Cross cut in, throwing a cold glare at his partner and waiting until he left before turning to face Steve, "Listen, I get it's been years since this incident but we 'ave to follow up after the accusation Mr. Hatcher has put forth. Unfortunately for you, there are no CCTV tapes to corroborate either your statement or his so we've got to ask you to describe – in your own words – what happened. Then you'll be free to go."
Steve ran a hand through his hair, running through the past carefully, reliving the memory of the day he'd watched the life die out from behind Tommy Jr's eyes. And thinking how that moment had changed his entire life. He thought over the blissful years after, his life with Shannon and the short time he'd had with Ben. And how it was all shit now. There was no reason to cling to his former life, no reason to protect the GSE.
The GSE had destroyed everything he held dear in his life and it seemed it would do the same to his younger brother's as well. He knew Pete was outside waiting for him, knew that Josie was waiting as well, the ever faithful fiancé. He'd lost his shot at a happy life with his wife but he'd be damned if the GSE would do the same to that sweet girl too. With their future in mind he began to talk.
He told them everything. About the fight, about how he left the GSE after that, how Tommy had always blamed him for his son's death though it wasn't by his hand. He described seeing the men he knew and had grown up with fighting and he couldn't be sure who delivered the fatal blow. Steve told them everything he knew except the names of the men who'd been directly fighting with Tommy Jr. Regardless of all that he'd been through, he still would not – could not – break his loyalty to them.
Finally falling silent, Steve felt exhaustion taking over, "And that's it – I hadn't set foot in the Abbey since that day until two weeks ago due to unforeseen circumstances involving my brother-in-law."
"Ah yes, a Matt Buckner, correct?" Detective Cross said as the pieces were finally fitting into place. Steve nodded in affirmation and Detective Cross leaned back in his chair, staring at the man across the table in contemplation.
This had been the most frustrating case to work as there was barely a case to work on. No one was filing charges against any individual, this entire mess had started from the arson that had occurred at the Brigid Abbey pub but had quickly expanded into an increasing amount of crimes being brought into view. Unfortunately, Detective Cross had been stonewalled in every attempt at learning the truth from every individual involved…until Tommy Hatcher had come to him singing his song of woe that had led him to pick up Steve Dunham when he'd been initially interested in Pete Dunham and his beautiful fiancé.
Drumming his fingers on the table in thought he stared at the man who looked exhausted and whose neck was still wrapped in gauze from a run in with God knew who, "Alright. Sounds like it was simply a fight that got out of hand, doesn't sound like it was due to yer direct involvement though. You'll be free to go in a few minutes but I just have a few more quest – " a frantic banging on the two-way mirror interrupted him mid sentence.
"One moment," he said apologetically as he walked hurriedly out of the room and into the adjacent viewing room, "What?" he snapped at DiNozzo who he'd had to boot out of the room earlier.
"Sir – look," he pointed at one of the CCTV monitors that were trained to the outside of the building. Detective Cross felt his blood freeze as his eyes stared in shock at the sight of an unaware Josie being followed by a frighteningly familiar form.
Josie walked hurriedly towards the car, wishing they'd been able to find a closer spot…actually she wished they were cuddled in their bed and not at the police station at all but that was besides the point. Once she finally spotted the car she picked up her pace even more and rushed over to it. Yanking the passenger-side door open she rummaged in the glove-box for the missing pills, sighing in frustration that she wasn't able to locate them immediately.
Suddenly, she felt the lightest touch run through her hair and she rolled her eyes that Pete had followed her out, "I told you I didn't need a bloody escort babe – I'm almost done. Ah-hah!" she cried as she hand wrapped around the pill bottle. A grin on her face, she whirled around in triumph, "Here we are Pet – " cutting off in terror and stumbling back against the car.
"Ello love," Tommy Hatcher said with a grin, "Ow are we?" he asked as though they'd happily run into each other in the market rather than a deserted street at three in the morning, "I must say I love your name for me babe, so sweet."
Josie felt the panic rising up from her stomach and it felt as though a large walnut had become lodge in her throat. She stared in terror back at the steel gray eyes wondering what the hell was going to happen. She tried her best to glare back at him but found it impossible as all she could think of was this was the man that had nearly killed Pete.
She opened and closed her mouth silently, frozen with fear. Finally she managed to clear her throat, "What're you doing here?" she tried to reply fiercely but it came out as a timid squeak.
Tommy waved a hand casually, "Just luck you'd 'ave to say. 'Ere I was just hopin' for a glimpse of ol' Stevie bein' hauled in for questioning and who follows but his little brother and his gorgeous fiancé." He said happily, taking another step towards her so that he was now only inches from her face. He took a piece of her hair in his fingers, twirling the lock a bit before slamming his palm on the top of the roof.
Josie jumped and she pressed herself even further into the cold metal of the car, "This isn't very smart you know – right outside a police station," she said, trying to distract him and keep him talking versus letting him carry on and possibly hurt her.
"Not 'smaht' eh?" he mimicked her Boston accent which seemed to come out stronger during times of extreme stress. "Lemme tell you what ain't smaht – the Dunham brothers thinkin' they don't have to pay for the death of my son. And before," he continued with a vicious smile, "I thought it'd be best if the two of them paid with their lives but now…well now I see just how important you are to them and the GSE as a whole. Terry's little protégé, engaged to a Dunham and mates with the top blokes of the GSE – you'll be my perfect revenge."
Josie felt her breath catch in her throat and if possible her eyes widened even more in terror, "I can't imagine how you feel losing your son like that but is killing me really going to make you feel better?"
"No – killing you won't make me feel better," Josie sighed in relief, but it was short lived when he continued, "However, seeing the anguish on all their faces, most especially the Dunham boys when you're dead, will."
"So you're just going to kill me – in front of a police station – in order to exact some sick revenge because you stupidly led your child into a dangerous lifestyle?" the words spilled out of her mouth before she could stop them and the twisting face of rage that met her should have been more than enough warning to stop but she found herself launching into a tirade as though it was some throwaway argument with Pete. She jabbed a finger into the older man's chest, her voice laced with anger, "You allowed him to go to matches where you knew he'd be in danger of violence then you're just so damned shocked to find that there are consequences to your actions."
"You've no idea what yer talkin' about," Tommy said and all of a sudden his large hand was around her neck, squeezing lightly but his grip tightened as he continued, "I 'ad to watch my son's skull crushed beneath Dunham's boys boots, no regard for his life."
Stubbornly, Josie continued, "You're the one who had no regard for his life," she just barely managed to breath out through the vice-like grip Hatcher now had on her neck, "You should've protected him, told him to stay away while you fought. It is no one's fault but your own." She managed to finish as spots began to appear in her vision and she felt herself fading away.
With a great deal of effort she began to struggle, trying to beat him away with her fists but Tommy effortlessly swatted them away and pinned them behind her back, "You little bitch – seems I was mistaken: killing you will make me feel better."
Josie blinked sleepily, fighting to keep her wits about her and the anger that still boiled at this man who was trying – again – to ruin her and Pete's life together. She managed to kick out and luck was with her as she connected with his nether regions and he gave a loud grunt as his grip loosened slightly.
But it wasn't enough, her words and the kick had only served to make him more resolute in ending her life, "I can see it now," Tommy whispered tauntingly, "How Pete will cry and Steve will blame 'imself. Don't think we don't all know about the hold you 'ave on those boys. Bye bye Miss Josie," he said slowly.
Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and her breaths were coming in gasps. God – this isn't fair, she thought bitterly, would you give me and Pete a fighting chance? Let us be happy just for a little bit, just let us live a life together. Her thoughts jumbled about in her head as she pled with the Almighty but all she could see behind her eyelids was the sight of Pete smirking down at her, tenderness and love shining in his eyes. Not fair, was the final thought before it all went black.
Right - so that was it! Thoughts?? I do so love reviews, they make me so so happy & I hope you're enjoying it.