I'm hoping to be able to get two chapters out today:
He had managed the drift off to sleep at some point during the early hours of the morning, his dreams consumed by the face of his old partner. He came back to awareness as he heard a harsh knocking at his door, rubbing his eyes he growled at the disturbance. He sat up slowly and lowered his legs from the bed on to the floor, looking down at himself he realised that he had fallen asleep in his clothes.
The banging on the door continued, "Enough already!" he bellowed as he dragged himself to his feet. Opening the door he scowled at his visitors, "Oh look, Mulder and Scully. To what do I owe the pleasure this time?"
Eric raised an eyebrow in amusement at the grouchy detective's remark, "We need to talk," he began as he held a tray of take-out coffee cups up. "Thought you might like one of these." He didn't wait for answer as he brushed past Andy and placed the coffee on a nearby table with Calleigh following closely behind.
"Look, if you've come to persuade me to visit John you're wasting your time." He held his hands up as he saw the look on their faces, "I was going to say that I've decided to hear him out."
"Good." Calleigh said as she sat herself down, folding her arms across her chest.
He was confused, "So why are you here then?"
Eric spoke up, "We thought it'd be a good idea to put what we know together, and then we might have a better idea of what is going on."
He couldn't argue with the younger man's logic, he smiled to himself as he realised that John had taught his young charges well. "Sounds like a good idea," he said as he lowered himself back down to the bed. "What do you know?"
Calleigh was the first to speak up, "A couple of nights ago Horatio was mumbling in his sleep. He kept saying the name 'Collins' over and over, I did a little digging," she let her words trail off.
"And?"
"I ran searches on the name, cross-referenced it with the dates and locations of Horatio's past. I searched criminal databases and when I didn't find anything I checked the government agencies instead. The only name that remained was for an FBI agent called Richard Collins. Does that name mean anything to you?"
Andy shrugged his shoulders, "Nope. Should it?"
Eric interjected, "You never saw Horatio talking to anyone who looked like FBI?"
"Kid, FBI agents are pretty good at not being seen. If John had something to do with this guy then I wasn't aware of it. You got any pictures of him?" he asked as he reached for his packet of cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it. Calleigh pulled an A4 glossy photo from the file she was holding and passed it to him. He studied it closely, the longer he looked at it the surer he was that he recognised the man.
Flashback. New York 1994:
It had been a swelteringly hot day in Manhattan; it was days like these that Andy longed for the bitter chill of winter in the air. At least if it was cold you could wrap up and keep warm, in the summer when the humidity was high there was simply nothing you could do to cool down enough. "Except take your clothes off," he thought to himself. He laughed bitterly at that, "John could probably get away with it but not me."
He smiled to himself as he stood outside the 15th precinct, a lit cigarette dangling from his left hand. John had been back at work for just over a week, it had been just over a month since the attack and although the physical scars of that evening were healing he sensed his partner had been shaken by the incident more than the young man would care to admit. John had given off the impression of being back to his slightly cocky and confident self in the squad room but he knew him better than that. There was clearly something on the man's mind that much was obvious when they drove to crime scenes or to interview witnesses together.
The two of them had always had a good-natured banter when it came to deciding who would drive their police-issued car at the start of each shift. Since John had returned he had given the keys to Andy without a word, climbing in to the passenger seat and waiting for his partner. Unable to keep his curiosity at bay he asked the younger man about it as they drove to a crime scene in Lower Manhattan. "Anything up, kid?" he asked as he kept his eyes on the road, glancing occasionally at his partner. He turned his head to him when he didn't get a response, "John, you listening to me?" he said a little louder, trying to get his attention.
"Sorry, Andy?" he kicked himself for getting caught daydreaming.
"Is something on your mind? We can talk about it if there is," he prodded gently as he returned his gaze to the road. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the younger man squirm in his seat as he loosened the tie around his neck slightly.
"Nothing's the matter. I'm fine Andy," he added, "Honestly," as his partner gave him a wary look.
"If it's about what happened Fancy can set you up with an appointment with the department shrink if you want."
"No, definitely not." His words came out harshly; he let out a long breath and tried to regain his composure. "There's nothing wrong. I'm fine."
The look John gave him warned him not to push his partner further. Against type John was not your typical fiery red head, sure the man could get frustrated and angry but no more than the next man. It was one of his finer qualities Andy thought, his ability to keep calm under the most trying of circumstances. He reminded himself that John wasn't at his best at the moment, his head still all over the place from the brutal beating he suffered only a few weeks ago. Sensing that his partner had closed down the conversation they made the rest of the journey in silence.
Returning his thoughts to the present he saw his partner walk out of the building and down the steps to the street below, looking troubled. He called out to him but John took no notice and marched further down the sidewalk, away from the precinct until he reached a black sedan car. A tall dark-suited figure climbed from the car and stood face to face with John, both men were a match in stature and height. He could see his partner become increasingly agitated as he placed his hands on his hips in a gesture of defiance. He was too far away to hear what the men were saying but judging by the look on John's face their conversation was starting to get heated. He could see the mystery figure smile smugly at John and it appeared that this only served to anger his partner even more.
The scene played out for a few more moments before John turned tail and headed back towards the precinct, the other man must have called out something to him as he saw his partner look over shoulder and say something back. Stubbing out his cigarette he called out to the younger man as he got closer, "That guy giving you grief, John?"
His partner's head shot up in surprise, unaware that he had been watched. "It's nothing, Andy. Just a business associate of Robin's old man trying to muscle in on his estate."
"You sure?" he asked, regarding his partner carefully. "It looked like it was getting heated."
He saw the younger man sigh, "Andy, I can handle it. Please, just leave it." John gave him a tight smile before walking past him back into the precinct.
Miami. Present day:
"I should have pushed him about it. I should have paid more attention." He admonished himself out loud.
His thoughts were disturbed by Calleigh. "Was that the only time you saw him talking to this man?"
He took a long drag from his cigarette, "Yeah. Guess they were more careful about when they met after that." He tapped the cigarette on the ashtray as he spoke, "So the guy he met was an FBI agent, what the hell would he be doing talking to them?"
"It makes sense," Calleigh added, "Horatio kept telling us that he had no choice, that he had to do it. He said that we needed to speak to Agent Collins and that he would explain everything."
"So you think the whole dirty cop thing was a cover, that he was working for the FBI the whole time?"
"It certainly seems like the most reasonable explanation that we have at the moment. We know Horatio would have had to have some pretty good reasons for doing the things he's been accused of." She narrowed her eyes at Andy, her comments directed at him.
He rubbed a tired hand over his face, just as he thought he understood the situation something else would pop up and leaving him doubting himself. He had been so certain of John's guilt, it slowly dawned at him that he could have been wrong about his partner. He suddenly felt awful as the pieces slowly slotted in to place, he knew now that he owed it to his partner to give him the benefit of the doubt but first he wanted answers from the FBI agent who had torn their lives apart.