For the Fictober's challenge
prompt : That was good work
Andy reflect to those words as Rusty brings Gus to the station for the very first time
A gigantic thanks to TheShadowsEdge for helping me sort my ideas and correct my many mistakes :)
I'll try to make it up in time to the end but with grad school kiddo my disease being still quite unstable we'll see.. That's the challenging part ahhah
Day 1 "that was good work"
Andy looked through the window and met Sharon's gaze. His heart sank at the distress he could see there. She looked so… so lost and afraid. He nodded to her, she nodded back. She had to do it. He knew. He could just send her strength and the promise to be there for her once she's done. He waited until she closed the blinds, wanting to be present until the very last moment. She exhaled, nodded one last time, assuring herself that she was capable of doing the task at hand. He didn't need reassurance. He knew she was more than capable and would continue to tell her so, every time she needed to hear it and some more.
After the blinds closed, he turned his attention back to his step-son and pressing his shoulder, he told him one last time «That was good work.» The words felt empty though. He didn't mean them. He knew Sharon was beyond proud of her son. It was, really, good work that he did. But what a little fucker ! He spend all his time on his fucking phone, all day long, needing to be kicked in the foot to be drawn back to reality when they were talking to him but here, he couldn't bother with a text. Like «Hey mom, heads up, I'm bringing Alice's brother. Beware you'll need to make a notification.» No, apparently that was asking too much of the little brat.
Andy really loved Rusty, nearly like a son but sometimes … sometimes he just wanted to shove him into a wall. How could he be so… so egocentric. He heard someone else congratulate the kid, telling him once more that it was good work. It instantly brought him to the memory of Sharon saying nearly those exact same words the day he lost the kid. Never, as a policeman, had he felt so very ashamed. He had lost the kid at the bus station. One second he was there and the next, poof. No explanation, not a word, not a text, not a phone call ! And the fucker was home all that time, with access to a phone, a computer…
Back then he was still that lost and angry kid who'd had it rough for years, so Andy had forgiven him. It had not been easy, especially after witnessing the hurt in the Captain's eyes. He'd known the woman for years and had never seen much emotion in her, but that day, he remembers very clearly her shining gaze and her efforts to dissimulate her pain and worry.
4 years later, here we are again. Not a thought about his mother. No, Rusty has just shown up and brought that dude he fought so hard to find, that dude he somewhat evoked a few days ago during supper. He told them back then he might have finally found some clues. How could he not give Sharon a heads up? How could her son not know how difficult she found notification? How sensible deep down she really was? She'd never back down from one but it didn't mean it wasn't eating her inside.
Andy found Rusty's eyes and saw the young man same. At least he knew. Hopefully he would be more … less.. insensitive the next time. Yeah, one could always dream. One thing was sure, Andy would be there, always there. He'd pick up the pieces, hold her when she'll cry and do everything to help her and restore a smile on her beautiful face. Yeah, at least this time he was there for her.
