The Disbanded: Divided We Stand-Chapter 11

By MyNameIsCAB

--Max's POV--

Dinner was pretty much silent. No one said much. We ate in silence. Messina paid the bill, even with my protest and Fang's protest. That might have been the most talking we had done all night.

"Well, goodnight," Messina sighed. "We'll probably be wanted at headquarters tomorrow."

I nodded. Captain Ramirez would probably want to talk to the team. Losing Carter was going to be hard. Finding a replacement was going to be even harder.


As Messina had predicted, we were called to headquarters the next afternoon. Fang still lay asleep on my bed, so I left a note that I would be back soon. I was pretty sure Fang could get along without me for a couple of hours. After all, he did that for two years.

Arriving at Headquarters, Messina was waiting outside for me.

"I can't walk in there," he said. "I just can't."

"Then we'll do it together," I said. "We gotta go in there."

He nodded and hesitantly followed me inside. Barry, Chuck, and Will were all sitting in the briefing room. They had been waiting for us. Captain Ramirez said nothing as we sat down.

"So you all know why we're here," the captain sighed.

A couple of us nodded and so the captain pressed on.

"I have funeral information. There's a wake tonight at the local funeral home and then Carter will be cremated and the funeral will proceed at the beach," Ramirez spoke, his voice shaky now. "His family welcomes you to come. It's not a private funeral, so I guess you can bring who you'd like."

The captain was referring to the wives of Barry and Will. Their wives knew Carter's wife. They would probably attend both the wake and the funeral. Chuck would probably bring Kerry, his partner. I guess I forgot to mention Chuck is gay and none of us had anything against that. Messina would probably bring Cal. That left me the only one alone. I don't think Fang would be welcomed to either the wake or the funeral.

"That's it for now. Take a week off, all of you. Maybe even a couple weeks unless we uncover a good lead on one of the dealers we're tracking," the captain finished. "I'll see you later."

And he disappeared into his private office. We all busied ourselves by getting up and getting ready to leave.

"Max, you should bring Fang," Messina said as we walked to our cars.

"You think that would be okay?" I asked.

"Sure. Why not? You'll need him," he said. "I'll probably get Cal to come with me."

I guess I was right about Cal coming.

"Okay, I'll see you later," I said quietly, turning towards my car.

"Okay, bye."


Fang was sitting at my kitchen table when I got back. He was eating his leftovers, still looking exhausted. I wondered how bad his depression was. Maybe I had been lucky over the last week that he wasn't all depressing.

"So, how'd everything go?" he asked, pulling his leg off the other chair so I could sit and eat my own food. I realized he wasn't sitting in his wheelchair.

"Okay," I answered, not really wanting to go into detail.

He nodded, not saying anything more.

"How…How did you get to the table?" I said, looking over at his wheelchair which was still against the wall.

He looked up at me. "I walked."

I guess that made sense. But that must have been painful. As if reading my mind, he went on to explain. "It hurt, a lot. But I do it every once in a while. I ended up dragging myself halfway here."

"Oh, okay, then," I responded. "Maybe we oughta get you crutches or something."

Fang shrugged. "Stop worrying about me, I'll be fine."


We were driving to the wake now. The funeral home was only a few minutes away and I parked close, so we wouldn't have to go far. Messina was there, waiting with Cal. Even she looked sad. They walked over and Messina pulled Fang's wheelchair out of the car.

"Hey," Messina tried to smile, but it was strained and full of deep sadness.

I even tried to smile back, but it felt like the effort was useless.

"Hi, Max," Cal said quietly. We greeted each other like old friends with a friendly hug. Then it was off towards the funeral. I was going to push Fang, but he insisted on getting around himself.

Carter's wife, Mary, met us as we made our way to the coffin. As part of the team Carter worked on, we stood after the coffin, meeting the others who had come to attend the wake.

Looking at Carter, laying the coffin, he looked so peaceful. You know, I didn't want to cry there and so I held the tears back as his friends and family passed by and shook our hands. Even a couple higher ups from our part of government came.

I glanced over at Fang, who was sitting next to Cal in the sitting area, where Barry and Will's wives sat with Kerry who was quietly sat there. All of them looked sad. Even Fang who was now talking to Cal quietly.

But I think he was thinking how that could have easily been someone that he cared about in that coffin. Maybe that's what was really making him sad.

But the wake finished a few hours later. My legs hurt from standing, but then I reminded myself that Fang wouldn't have minded being able to stand if he could. Mary thanked all of us for coming and we all took turns hugging her. She finally broke down in tears when Chuck said how great Carter was to have on the team. Surprisingly, he comforted her.

Then we got outside and that's when the tears came out like rain. I could hear the others. Messina, right behind us, sobbing hysterically into Cal's shoulder.

"Max," Fang put a hand in my arm.

I leaned against my car, still crying. Fang suddenly rose out of his wheelchair and wrapped his arms around me.

"Max, you'll be okay," he whispered into my ear.

"No I won't," I sobbed.

"Max, you'll get through this…We'll get through this," he tried to assure me.

We must have stood there for a whole five minutes as I cried into his shoulder. He just held me and maybe that was all the comfort I needed now.

"I'm sorry I'm making you stand," I finally said once I wiped my eyes.

He shook his head, now leaning onto the car. "It's okay. Come on, let's go home."

I turned to see if Cal and Messina were still there. They were, Cal had finally calmed him down. She gave a small smile as a waved goodbye.

Somehow, I only knew that tomorrow would be harder.