mydailytumbles wrote a thing for this story! go read it now. (this chapter actually refers to it!) it's on their tumblr at post/87668926815/bruises. curse this site and its hatred of links.
Good Cop woke up slowly. Everything hurt. He became aware of a nearby conversation.
"Wow," an unfamiliar female voice was saying. "That's, uh… Wow."
"Yeah," was the reply, and Good Cop realized that was Benny.
There was an awkward silence, and Good Cop's head pounded. He groaned, shifting on the uncomfortable surface, and cracked his eyes open. A drab, grey ceiling swam into focus. He tried to lift his left hand and put it to his forehead, but only made it a few inches before his wrist was jerked to a stop.
"He's awake!" he heard Benny say.
Good Cop turned his head to the side in time to see Benny scramble to his feet. There was a baffled-looking woman sitting in a chair, with Princess Unikitty curled up in cat form on her lap.
There were bars between him and the trio.
He looked down. He was lying on a cot, handcuffed to the side of it.
"Good Cop?" Benny said cautiously.
Good Cop struggled to sit up, pressing his free hand against his head. "What the hell?" he said. "Am I in prison?"
"Well, technically you're in a holding cell," Benny replied nervously, looking away.
Then Good Cop remembered. The wall, Bad Cop, Benny, Business. He jerked upright despite the pain and yanked on the cuffs. "Let me out," he snarled.
Benny took a step back and sat down again, taking up as little space as possible on the chair. He glanced over and Jenkins and Unikitty. Is he still mad? Bad Cop asked.
Benny made a sound to the affirmative.
Let me talk to him.
Benny's throat tightened. Last time he'd let Bad Cop switch in to talk to Good Cop, the darkness had panicked him. It was such a closed-off space. Suffocating. He'd felt trapped, claustrophobic. Part of the reason he'd been so vicious fighting Good Cop was because he was still shaking and scared and had needed an outlet. He didn't want to go back in for a third time.
Ben, Bad Cop said. I need to talk to him.
Benny knew that. He really did. This was important. But he just couldn't.
Then he met Good Cop's gaze. It was angry and dark, darker than that space. He remembered why he'd let Bad Cop switch in last time.
"You're talking to him, aren't you?" Good Cop asked, his voice dangerously low.
Benny swallowed. "Yeah," he whispered.
Good Cop tried to stand, but the cuffs snapped him back. "Let him out," he growled.
Benny closed his eyes.
I'm really sorry, Ben, Bad Cop said. But I gotta do this. I don't want to force you to switch out. Please.
"Okay," Benny made himself say, even though he felt he might throw up. "Do it."
Bad Cop switched in. He could feel Benny struggling to stay calm in the back of his head.
Good Cop saw the change, and he tensed even more, pulling the chain of the handcuffs taut. "I don't understand," he said. "Why are you trying to stop me?"
Bad Cop pulled his chair up to the bars and turned it around, straddling it. He was silent for a moment, considering how to answer, and then said, "Remember Riley?"
Good Cop's expression darkened. "I remember."
"He was a real git," Bad Cop said, folding his arms over the back of the chair. "How many pairs of our glasses do you reckon he broke?"
Good Cop let out a small, humorless laugh. "Too many to count."
Bad Cop looked his counterpart dead in the eye. "And how many of his bones do you reckon you broke?"
That drew Good Cop up short. He swallowed.
"When I went to find you in our mindspace afterwards, you told me you were afraid of yourself," Bad Cop continued. "You were ready to shut yourself in permanently. If only you could see yourself now."
Good Cop looked down, his brow furrowed. "This is different," he said hoarsely. "Business-"
"Is a bully," Bad Cop interrupted. "He's Riley all over again, but worse because we're adults now. I wish we'd realized it sooner."
It was strange, seeing his own face from the outside, watching as emotions warred with each other on it. He stood up, unlocked the cell door and went inside, sitting down on the cot beside his brother. Good Cop's head was bowed, still preoccupied with some inner battle.
Bad Cop reached into Benny's pocket and pulled out Good Cop's cracked glasses. "Liam," he said, holding them out. "You're the good Copp."
The corner of Good Cop's mouth twitched up in a sad smile at the echo of Bad Cop's words from all those years ago. "I don't feel 'good'," he said, repeating his own response.
Suddenly, Bad Cop thwacked Good Cop upside the head. Good Cop yelped in shock. "What the-"
"Now put on yer darn glasses," Bad Cop said, shoving the glasses under Good Cop's nose, "and quit it with the sniveling. This ain't about a trip down memory lane, this is about getting you to stop being such a darn eedjit. Now pull yourself together, man, and we'll see about getting you some ice for those bruises."
"Wow," Good Cop said dryly. "You sure know how to comfort a guy." But there were the weak beginnings of a smile on his face, and he took the glasses and slid them on, careful of his battered nose.
"Jenkins!" Bad Cop barked, and the young woman jumped in surprise, startling Unikitty off her lap.
"Sir?" she asked.
"Go get the first-aid kit and an ice pack from the freezer," he said. "And make it snappy."
Jenkins leapt to her feet and hurried away, Unikitty bounding after her.
Is it over? Benny asked desperately. Can I come out now?
Bad Cop didn't bother to respond, just switched Benny in. Benny leaned over and put his head between his knees, sucking in huge gulps of air.
"Benny?" Good Cop asked cautiously.
"Just a sec," Benny gasped. "Lemme just…" He inhaled deeply, straightening up, and let out a long exhale. "Okay," he said, staring straight ahead. "I'm good."
"Benny, I," Good Cop began haltingly. "I'm sorry. About how I treated you earlier. I shouldn't have- shouldn't've let myself take my anger out on you."
"It's good, man," Benny said, clapping Good Cop on the shoulder, and Good Cop winced in pain. "I got to beat the snot out of you, so I guess we're even."
Good Cop chuckled a little, but looked miserable despite it. "So much for first impressions."
"Second, really," Benny replied, unlocking the cuffs that held Good Cop to the cot. "We got along alright in the hospital."
Good Cop gave him a look out of the corner of his eye. "You're very forgiving."
Benny looked down at his hands. "You really scared the shit out of me, dude. I haven't quite forgiven you yet." He glanced at Good Cop. "But I want to. So I act like I have."
Good Cop considered the spaceman. "You're a very interesting person," he said. "I can see why he likes you."
Benny ducked his head and smiled, his ears turning red.
"Hey, uh, guys?" said a voice hesitantly from the doorway.
Both of them looked over. It was Jenkins, holding the first aid kit, ice pack, and a reddening Unikitty in her arms. Beside her was Emmet. And beside him was Business.
"We've got a bit of a problem," Jenkins said.