From Gun Clips to Money Clips

A/N: Thanks to Long Live BRUCAS for the review!

Chapter VI

Hank paced his living room, noting a different scratch on the wall or nick in the coffee table on each pass. Some would tell him that he needed to repaint or replace his furniture, but the battle scars of the life lived here kept him close to his family. If he wanted to remember his wife, he didn't go to the cemetery, he pulled out her favourite coffee mug and brewed a strong pot. If he wanted to…

A low knock sounded at the front door. It shook Hank out of his memories and he took a deep breath before striding to answer the door. Adam was on the other side, hands shoved deep in his pants pocket. His face was nervous which Hank understood – he didn't ask his team to come to his house after hours for a one-on-one meeting often.

If ever.

Hank jerked his head and led him back to the dining table. Somehow having a piece of furniture in front of him made the conversation he was about to have a little less uncomfortable. He looked up at the collection of picture frames and reminded himself that Trudy was right. He waved at a chair and pulled one out for himself.

Adam carefully pulled it out, settling down slowly, and scooting it into the table with small, quiet moves. He seemed to want to fidget, but kept stopping himself like he'd been coached on how to sit still.

"I need to tell you something." Hank's voice came out raspier than usual.

Adam nodded but seemed to shrink in on himself. Not his first call to the principal's office.

"It's about a cop named Joseph Johnston. JJ to his friends, JoJo to his wife." The corner of Hank's mouth slipped up, remembering her smile as she picked him up from work looking for 'her JoJo'.

Brows furrowed at this unexpected topic, Adam blinked but stayed silent.

"Back when I was starting out, there wasn't as formal a training program. I rode with what you would call a T.O. for a few months, but then I was assigned a new cop to ride with who wasn't what you would call a shining example of exemplary policing." Hank paused, still wondering how Platt had cornered him into this. "We were out on a night patrol in a seedier part of the city. He…"

"JJ?" Adam found his voice.

"Nah, he shows up later." Hank didn't really want to share the partner's name; he'd been trying to forget it for decades. "My partner had an appointment with a hooker so he left me on a sidewalk and took the car around the corner."

"He didn't want to share his CI with you?"

Hank shifted in his chair. "No…he wasn't meeting with her. She was working off him not arresting her for solicitation."

Adam's cheeks reddened as Hank's blunt take sunk in. He reverted back into silence.

"It was a different time." Hank sighed. "And he was part of the reason." He took a breath. "There I was, still in my first year, standing on a sidewalk alone in a part of town that had double patrols for a reason. Then, I heard the scream." He fisted his hands. "I was so green, I didn't know what to do at first, but then my instinct kicked in and I ran towards the sound."

Some Years Ago…

Hank stumbled a bit as he took off running. His foot sent a bottle skittering on to the road as he charged down the sidewalk. The dim yellow streetlights put everything in a weird glow and his eyes darted all over, even though his first partner had taught him to methodically scan the area.

Another scream ripped down the street and he tried to run just a little bit faster, targeting in towards the sound. A little jog around a building and he could finally see what he was up against. He blinked, and swallowed as air rushed out of his nose. The man who held the woman in one hand and punched her with the other was huge. Hank hoped the element of surprise would be on his side as he tried to avoid giving away his approach.

The man must have sensed Hank in the last few seconds because he twisted away from the woman. By then Hank was already airborne, slamming into him in a flying tackle. The woman wrenched her arm out of her attacker's grip and stumbled away to safety.

Landing on top of his opponent, Hank reared back and headbutted him in the nose. Years of wrestling and play fighting with his buddies while growing up did give him an edge since they really didn't believe in those rules of engagement things. He landed an elbow to the side which and was rewarded with a grunt. They grappled, each trying to gain his feet first but the other knocking a limb out of position. Hank's mistake was taking a free hand and toggling his radio when he thought he had the guy pinned.

"Officer in need of assistance, corner of Maple and Seve…" He never finished yelling his call towards the speaker as the man had taken the few seconds to regroup.

Hank found himself rolled and slammed into the ground. The bulk of the man weighed down on his torso. Kicking did nothing. Pushing and punching had no effect. Hank found his air was slowly being pressed out of him. The edges of his vision were prickled with black and he felt his consciousness begin to fade. He wondered if they would drape a flag on his coffin, seeing as he only had eleven months and 22 days on the job. Shouldn't he at least complete a full year first?

A sound tickled in his brain and he fought to focus back on the present. He rolled his eyes towards the man's face who was…laughing? He thought this was funny – suffocating a cop with his fat bulk? Hank decided he didn't want to go out without one more action. He reached down to his hip, levered the barrel of his gun upwards while still holstered and pulled the trigger.

The shot sounded louder than any other round he'd fired during the academy. His ear rung and his thigh felt hot and cold at the same time. Then he noticed the pressure on that side had eased just enough that air could be sucked down into his lung. He jerked his hip up and eased the pressure a bit more. Between jerking and wiggling, he was able to slide himself out from underneath the weight. Once finally freed, he lay on the ground, sucking air and looking like a fish on land as his bruised chest tried to expand a little bit more with each breath.

"Officer! Are you okay?" A deep voice wormed through his good ear and Hank pried his eyes open. He found himself staring at the outline of a patrolman's cap, the face haloed into darkness by the yellow streetlamp to his back.

Hank wasn't sure if he could even talk so he pulled his chin up and down a few times as he tasted the sweet air.

The cop toggled his own radio. "Medical assistance for officer at Maple and Seventh. Back-up better be enroute." His tone left no room for argument. "I'm JJ. Don't move until you know you won't pass out or toss your cookies." Hank gave him a proper nod.

JJ moved out of Hank's sightline but he could hear he didn't go far. The conversation drifted back to him.

"Ma'am, are you okay?"

A high, squeaky voice. "Just sore."

"Did that man attack you?"

"Y-yes."

"And the cop stopped him?"

"Yes" a bit more confident.

"And that man is your pimp?" She started to answer but JJ kept talking as if she hadn't. "Because if he's your pimp, it's simply assault and battery but if he's not, I'm going to have to take you in for solicitation."

"He's…one…of my pimps." She stated it, but it sounded like there was a question mark at the end.

"Hmm. That's bad for him." Papers rustled. "You'll need to tell all of this to the detective when he gets here."

"Oh yeah, definitely a pimp."

"The detective may need to follow up at your home for further questioning after tonight."

She sighed and he grunted as if they were each having the same thought…most of the local prostitutes lived in the same house as their pimp and that could expose the lie. "Well, I happen to know there's this shelter down the road, and I'm sure if you called them from that payphone right there at this number right now, they may have a bed open for a few weeks."

"Do you mind if I make a call? Just want my roommates to know I'm safe."

"I think that's a great idea. I'm going to go check on the cop."

"Tell him thanks from me."

"Might be good for him if you do that yourself."

Footsteps came back towards Hank. He found the black had cleared during that conversation and he had tested all his limbs and found them to be functioning.

"Officer, do you want to try sitting up?"

Hank nodded and held out his hand. He felt himself being pulled upright and though his stomach wasn't thrilled, the coffee and donut didn't make an appearance. "Officer Voight. Hank Voight." He stated, taking a first, good look at the cop.

JJ's eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. "I've seen your name on the board. You're a real newbie."

Hank hoped that wasn't a critique of his performance. He just nodded in response.

A siren that had been closing in finally came around the corner behind them. "The medics are here. They'll want to look you over, probably need to see that leg of yours."

Hank had been trying to ignore that pain. "What about him?" He didn't need to point.

JJ looked over. "They'll get you sorted first."

"But…I shot at him."

JJ clapped a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Okay, I'll get them to check you both out." Another car pulled up which drew his focus. "The detectives are here. Just tell them everything that happened here." JJ made eye contact again. "The truth." Then he was gone.

Present

"What happened to the woman?" Adam had a lot of questions but decided that one was the least confrontational.

Hank took a deep breath. "She used her time at the shelter to turn her life around. Joined a secretarial pool, married, had three kids, still sends me a Christmas card each year. She tells everyone I gave her the best career advice a gal could ask for."

Adam decided to go for the worst question next. "Only one officer showed up for that call?"

Hank went from leaning back in his chair to dropping his crossed arms on the table. "Yeah, and I was lucky that JJ was on shift – he'd traded out so he could be at an event with his wife the next day – because no one else was coming. My partner…was not a good cop."

"Obviously." Adam scoffed, remembering the reason Hank was alone in the first place.

"No, worse than that. He had one face for the brass which got him into a position of power with the union. He used that to bully and abuse officers he didn't like. No one was coming to my call because they all knew what happened around Maple and Seventh and knew that he was collecting payments. See, when the detectives came and documented my fully truthful statement, the brass started asking why I was standing on the sidewalk alone. That was something he'd hidden from them for years. Nobody wanted to face his wrath by tattling on him up to that point but I was a dumb rookie who couldn't be blamed for not knowing any different. JJ used my inexperience to put a hole in this guy's armor."

"He used you?"

Hank bobbed his head. "In a way, but see, the detective that showed up also wanted to take him down and he'd been stashing reports and witness statements for that moment. First, he reported what happened to me and when the 'I can't believe he'd do such a thing…' started, the detective dropped the stack of paperwork in front of the captain and union boss."

"What happened to you?"

"The shot did graze my leg but it was more like a burn. I limped for a few weeks and then I was fine."

Adam was quiet, and then asked "What about the guy?"
Another sigh. "I didn't find out until my next shift. I gut shot him. He bled out on the sidewalk. JJ was sparing me the truth when he offered to check on him."

They sat with just the clock ticking for a few moments. Adam was absorbing the story while Hank floated through the old memory.

"Why…" Adam lapsed into silence. He clenched his jaw against finishing the question, but the curiosity roiled against his molars. "Why are you telling me this?"

Hank seemed to chew on the question. "I had never met JJ before that night. Like I said, he had traded shifts. Sure, I'd seen his name on the duty board but this was before they spent money on photos aside from a yearly precinct picture where our heads were smaller than your thumb. I was in my first one a week later." Hank looked at Adam, drilling into his eyes. "JJ heard a call over the radio and he came running. Didn't ask himself if he knew, or even cared, about the cop making the call. Didn't think about the optics until he knew that I was okay. I know that because he told me his side a few months later while we were partners."

"But you said he was on opposite shifts; how would he know about the…payments?"

"Kid, everyone knew. The brass probably knew too, but it took me almost getting killed to force them into dealing with the issue." Hank gave a small smile. "JJ said he heard the call and pulled the riskiest U-turn of his career. He said hearing me getting cut off was like a jolt of electricity to his gut."

"Sorry Voight, I think it's great war story but I don't know why you called me here." True, maybe Adam was being deliberately obtuse. These old stories could be exciting, he loved hearing them, but he always felt a sad tug while listening.

"Son," it came out as a sigh. "Policing in today's world is hard. We had challenges back when I started but the badge was still respected. The person wearing it may not have deserved it, but people's initial response was respect. Now the first instinct of the public is usually distrust. On top of that, our unit works cases that sometimes makes our fellow cops uncomfortable. I understand that you feel like have to watch our backs and your own at all times." Voight's eyes drilled into Adam's head as he'd become very focused on the table. "But you can't live like that forever, it'll tear you up inside. Sure, my circle of trusted cops has shrunk and changed over time but I still have them. You need to build your group."

Adam nodded, his shoulders rounded. "Okay. I'll think about it." He stood from his chair and circled the table. Partway to the front door he paused and half-turned back to Hank, "Thanks for telling me." He felt like there was something else to add but the words didn't form so instead he pushed out to his truck.

The drive home was spent thinking about everything except what Voight had told him.