Fixing A Broken Wing - Chapter 2
A/N: This chapter is set after 4.10 Rawhide episode and approximately a week after the previous chapter.
Dylan was looking at his XO worriedly. This was her third shot of vodka already, and judging by the amount of small glasses lined up in front of her, she showed no sign of slowing down.
He had never seen her like this. His XO was always, for the most part that he knew her, in control of her actions. He certainly never envisioned her getting trashed in the middle of the newly opened bar. His gut feeling told him that there must be something that bothered her, but on the other hand, he didn't know her well enough to question her about it. Maybe this was what she always did to unwind, to finally let go of the controlled human being he knew at work.
"You know Dutchy, some men are idiots." Her eyes looked up from her vodka and stared at him with surprisingly sober eyes.
He chuckled. "Am I included in your assessment?"
Her eyes then narrowed at him, as if to assess him on the spot. Most men would look away or started to squirm at her scrutiny, but not him. He welcomed it. No one had ever been bothered to look closely at him, to know him. He guessed that his imposing stature sometimes caused people to give him a wide berth.
"I don't know Dutchy." She finally answered after a few seconds of staring at him. "I hope not. I hate to think that I'm a loser magnet." She smiled sadly and turned her attention back to the shots in front of her.
Kate McGregor, a loser magnet? Was she serious? Somebody must have broken her heart for her to think that way.
Now it was his turn to scrutinise her. That assumption would explain a lot of things; her melancholy expression during that lunch last week and her attempt to drink away her sorrows now.
Who was the man responsible though?
He sighed inwardly.
That is none of your business, Dylan!
He then forced himself to nurse his beer again instead of looking at her. He said to himself that he needed to control his protective instinct towards her. His over protectiveness was the main problem from the very beginning. Now that they had started to mend their working relationship, he didn't want to jeopardise that work-in-progress by being nosy.
But I can't let her drink to excess either.
Yes, you can Dylan. She is a grown woman. You just have to make sure that she is safe.
After reaching that conclusion, he finally could relax a little bit more. He then looked at his surroundings. Bird and Bomber hadn't moved from RO's sides since they came to the bar, undoubtedly trying to make the man feeling better after the whole ordeal with Darryl. 2Dads, Charge and Swain were now playing cards, maybe poker or something else. And the CO was nowhere to be seen.
When he paid his attention back to the woman sitting beside him, she had already finished all the shots in front of her and was about to flag the bartender for more. He then racked his brain for any distraction to delay her ordering more shots for half an hour or so.
"X, why don't we play twenty questions?" He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
20 questions? Dylan, that is so lame!
Her glassy eyes stared at him for a minute or two and then she started giggling. "You want to play 20 questions when I'm drunk?"
He couldn't help but smiled at her antics. "Well, I don't think you would agree to play this game if you were sober."
"Fine... Bring it on!" Kate replied enthusiastically.
Dylan sighed inwardly as he saw her excited face. What the hell did I get myself into?
After an hour playing the game and another 5 shots later, Kate had finally reached her limit and was now slumped on the bar table. That was when Dylan decided that enough was enough. Time for her to go home. There was one problem though. He didn't know where she lived. But knowing himself, even though he knew the address, he probably would not be able to leave her on her own in her current state. Dylan, stop it! You are being too protective again!
"Is she still conscious?" Swain's worried voice from behind him broke his thought.
"I think so." Dylan replied tentatively before shaking her shoulder softly, trying to gauge her reaction.
She groaned in response.
"Come on mate, you both are coming with me. The X could take the spare room and you could sleep on the sofa in the living room if you want."
Hearing Swain's generous offer, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks mate. Appreciate that."
Dutchy gave his bag to Swain, then reached for Kate's waist and helped her up to a standing position.
She groaned again in protest. "Where're we going?" she mumbled against his side.
"To Swain's house." He replied while tightening his grip on her waist.
"But what about the game?" Kate tried to hold her head up to look at him, but her head was too heavy.
Both men chuckled slightly at her insistence. "We'll continue later, X."
"Promise?" Her childlike response and the slight vulnerability in her voice made him stopped and tilted her chin up towards him.
He instantly hated what he saw. Gone was the strong woman he knew and newly admired. Her glassy eyes were desperate for him to assure her about the game, as if that was the only thing that held her sanity intact. "I promise." He finally said after a long pause.
She smiled slightly at his response and she let her head slumped back, this time against his chest. He tightened his grip further and walked her slowly to the exit. They could move faster if he carried her on his arms instead, but he wasn't going to risk it. He could justify his action this morning because her feet was stuck in the swamp, but now, with her being intoxicated in the middle of a crowded bar and under Swain's curious gaze, he would not do anything that could possibly ruin her reputation.
"Blonde or Brunette?"
Dylan rolled his eyes at the question. He couldn't believe that at her half-incapacitated state, she was still determined to continue with the game. He could see in the corner of his eyes that Sally and Swain were both trying to hold back laughter.
He had made a mistake in opening the window of the taxi to let the fresh air in. The fresh air then woke her up and the interrogation began. Well, a drunken kind of interrogation. And it hadn't stopped even as they arrived at Swain's house. Both of them now stood on the hallway, under the amused gaze of the couple.
"Here let me show you her room." Sally finally said.
Dylan smiled at her gratefully and gave Swain a scowl for finding this situation funny. But as Kate took a step forward and her knees buckled, Swain sobered up and reached for Kate's other side. "Come on X. You need to rest."
Kate giggled as a response before her knees buckled for the second time. Dylan finally decided to give up all propriety and lifted her up to his arms instead. As if they had practiced this before, her arms automatically circled around his neck and her head buried in the curve of his neck.
Sally's eyes widened as she was seeing the events unfolded in front of her, but she didn't comment. She just quietly led the way to the guest room, trusting her husband to lock the front door and take care of the bags.
She then opened the door, turned on the light, pulled the bed-cover towards the end of the bed and stepped aside to let Dylan moved towards the bed.
He carefully lowered Kate on to the bed. Man, this felt so wrong!
As Kate settled on the bed, Sally took over from Dylan and took off Kate's shoes before covering her with blanket.
Seeing this, Dylan breathed a sigh of relief that the night was almost over. He could feel that today's event started catching up on him.
Both Sally and Dylan then moved back towards the door and Sally turned the lights off. But then, he heard Kate's faint voice called his name.
He shook his head slightly when Sally reached for the light switch once more. Stepping back inside the bedroom, he then knelt on the carpet beside the bed.
"X, you need to get some sleep." He whispered softly while his hands brushed her bangs aside and tucked the strand of her hair behind her ear. As he realised how intimate his gesture was, he quickly pulled his hand away from her. You are in trouble, Dylan. Big trouble.
"But Dutchy, you haven't answered..."
His lips curved upwards at her whining voice. "Sssshhh... Let's continue next time..."
"That's not fair."
"I know. But both of us are tired." He decided to change tactic. "Why don't you close your eyes for me?" giving her his best smile, he hoped that she would follow his suggestion.
"Okay." Her eyes closed slowly and her breathing started to get more even. But before he had the chance to stand up, she asked him another question. "Dutchy, why he didn't choose me? Why did he choose 'her' instead?"
He froze at the question. He then looked up to Sally's eyes, as if asking for confirmation whether he heard the question correctly. Her sad expression confirmed his hearing.
Why would any men choose someone else over her? The man must be insane.
"I don't know." He finally answered. He felt anger bubbling in his chest as he realised that he couldn't help her more. However, at the same time, he was glad that he didn't know the identity of the man. Otherwise, he would probably beat him first and ask question later.
"That's too bad." With that simple statement, she finally fell asleep.
Dylan sat on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Sally to come back down with a blanket. Swain had said good night to him beforehand, mentioning something about bedtime stories for Chloe.
It was a good thing that there would be no more conversation tonight. Frankly speaking, his brain couldn't process anything else at the moment, as it was in full capacity trying to make sense of his feelings regarding tonight's event.
Was it only 2 months ago when I was introduced to her for the first time? Was it only a week ago when we made amends? Is it possible that my feelings change so quickly?
He shook his head in frustration.
Why do I care so much about her? When does her happiness become my priority?
He needed to get away. Fast. Thinking about this when her door was just few metres away was just dangerous. Not to mention if she remembered any of the things she said tonight, she would probably feel embarrassed and it would ruin everything. It would be better if they let things cool down for a little bit before the next patrol. Then, their interaction could go back to normal.
Yes. Let's do that. OK, first thing first, I need my bag.
"Dutchy?" Sally looked at him with raised eyebrows. Apparently, in his musing, he had got up from the sofa and walked back and forth in the living room, wearing the carpet.
"Sorry." He grimaced. "Actually, I think I better go home."
"Are you sure?" She looked at him concerned. She knew that the sofa was not the right size, a bit too short for his height, but she thought that he would probably ignore that fact as he looked so tired.
"Yes. I'm sure." He smiled at her concern. Swain is a very lucky man.
Sally frowned slightly at his stubbornness. But as she remembered his sweetness towards Kate, she finally relented. "Alright then. Your bag is just behind the sofa. And I'm going to call a taxi for you."
"Thanks." He sat back on the sofa and closed his eyes briefly. Few more minutes Dylan. Few more minutes and this bizarre night will officially end.
To be continued...