Fic: When The Leaves Fall (2/?)
Title: When The Leaves Fall (2/?)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters (this chapter): Mike Parker, William Eldredge, Leo Durkin, Frank Arcaro/Adam Flint, Mitch Pilewski
Fandom: Naked City
Genres: Angst, Drama, Historical
Rating (this chapter): PG-13
Warnings: Major Character Death
Spoilers: For Today The Man Who Kills The Ants Is Coming (3x21)
General Summary: After the fallout from a violent confrontation with a fleeing killer, Adam is broken.
Chapter Summary: Mike finds out some amazing news about Adam.
Date Of Completion: July 29, 2024
Date Of Posting: August 6, 2024
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, Screen Gems does, more’s the pity.
Word Count (this chapter): 1639
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
II
THE SUMMER OF LOVE
September 27, 1967
In the summer of '67
It was hippie heaven.
Flower
Was the power
And love was free
Except
For you and me.
Rain Gold
"Lavender Lollipops"
1968 C.E.
Dr. William Eldredge's reception area was painted pale yellow and contained potted plants. Mike figured that the hospital must have gotten a good deal on paint and the plants. He thought of the Precinct's peeling walls and shabby furniture and asked the secretary, "The doc in?"
The middle-aged woman, Delia, always dressed smartly and her brown hair was stylishly coiffed. She smiled. "He's expecting you."
"Thanks."
The office was well-appointed with a solid oak desk and cobalt-blue rug. The pale blue walls held seascapes except for the wall fronted by a tall bookcase filled with medical books. One of the windows overlooked the grounds while the other window had a great view of the ocean.
A walnut credenza was situated for the antique silver tea service placed on top to catch the sunlight and sparkle. A model clipper ship was set on a smaller credenza behind Eldredge's desk.The doctor sat behind his desk, which held stacks of papers and a thick, open medical tome.
Dr. William Eldredge was in his fifties, with broad shoulders, the beginnings of a paunch, and large hands. Silky white hair framed a broad face, his nose and cheeks ruddy. Black horn-rimmed glasses framed bright blue eyes that missed nothing. He displayed his diplomas in a corner, preferring giving the spotlight to the seascapes.
"What is going on with Adam?" Mike threw his overcoat onto the chair in front of the desk.
"So you saw him?" Eldredge took a puff on his pipe, the rich smell reminding Mike of going to the tobacconist's shop with his father when he was a child. Maybe he should ditch cigarettes and take up pipe smoking.
"Yes, I saw him. He can't have remembered. He wouldn't be happy." He felt irritated as Eldredge merely looked at him as if he was a patient. "He didn't ask me, 'Has Frank come to see me today?' What's up with that?"
"He says Frank came to see him."
Mike felt his jaw drop. "Are you telling me Adam said he saw his partner?"
"He did."
Mike sat down abruptly in the chair before the desk. "He's seeing his dead partner."
"Yes, he is."
Mike could feel a major headache coming on. He could feel himself falling back into memory...
& & &
February 24, 1964
Mike and Officer Durkin ran up the stairs of the crumbling tenement. Mike could feel his blood pulsing as he was desperate to reach the rooftop.
"Nooo!!!"
Adam's scream froze Mike's blood. "C'mon," he barked to Durkin.They ran up the endless stairs.
They burst onto the rooftop and saw a horror neither one of them would ever forget. Adam was drenched in his partner's blood and cradling Frank, who was not breathing. Adam was rocking back and forth, tears running down his face. A patrolman was hovering over the scene, the other officers gone in pursuit of the killer Adam and Frank had been chasing.
"No, no, no," Adam kept repeating over and over in a hoarse voice. "Please, Frank, no."
"Adam..." Mike laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder. He could feel the muscles trembling.
Off in the distance a siren blared. An ambulance was on the way. Probably the patrolman had called for it.
Adam's shaking hand brushed silky white hair from Frank's pale brow. His blood-soaked shirt showed no movement. Mike felt cold inside.
Adam turned his head slightly and Mike saw the ravaging of a soul in shimmering eyes. Pieces of his brilliant young subordinate were slowly breaking away.
The patrolman looked at him. Mike shook his head. There was nothing to do but wait.
The siren wound down and a few minutes later, the sound of footsteps clattered up the stairs. The ambulance attendants sized up the situation quickly and Mike shook his head to confirm that there was no hurry. The attendants tried to get Adam to disengage from Frank's body, but Adam fought them, screaming in desperation. Patrolman Pilewski and Mike pulled him away, having a hard time controlling him. Durkin joined in to help.
"Adam," Mike pleaded, knowing he was wasting his breath. The young detective was totally focused on Frank, the iron smell of blood sharp in the cold winter air.
One of the ambulance attendants picked up a blanket after he and his partner got Frank's body onto the stretcher. He shook the blanket out and carefully draped it over their charge's entire body. Time to take away the dead.
That was when Mike saw the remaining light go out of Adam's eyes. He screamed one final time, cracking like an Arctic glacier where chunks of ice broke off in giant pieces to drop into the frigid sea. He collapsed into the abyss.
& & &
Mike focused on Dr. Eldredge, who was waiting patiently for him to speak.
"He's never getting out of here, is he?" Mike's voice cracked as he shivered.
"I wouldn't say that. It's my job to bring him back."
"To what? He'll never work for the NYPD again, but that's incidental. If you force him to face reality, I can guarantee you he'll crack again, and this time he'll disappear into the abyss for good." Mike got up and began restlessly pacing around the office.
"He's too young to give up on."
"But he's happy. How long has he been seeing Frank?"
"When was your last visit?"
Mike stopped pacing. "About mid-June, I think."
"He started seeing his partner soon after that."
Guilt suffused Mike. "I meant to come sooner than today, but let me tell you, Doc, the hippies may call it the Summer of Love, but for the police department of any big city, it was more like the Summer of Riots. My men were busy putting out fires all summer. Sometimes literally."
"Understandable." Eldredge puffed on his pipe.
"You only know Adam since he was sick. Let me tell you, Adam when well still suffered from guilt that made Catholic guilt look like a walk in the park." He folded his arms.
Eldredge nodded. "I figured as much. The guilty are plentiful here."
"That day Frank died. It wasn't so long after The Beatles came to town. My men worked as security for the charming moptops." The last few words were said with dripping sarcasm. "Good for their wallets but not for their nerves. All those screaming teenage girls!" Mike shook his head.
"An interesting cultural phenomenon." Eldredge peered through a cloud of smoke.
"More like a pain in the ass. Adam and Frank were amused by my irritation, cracking jokes and saying things like the music was pretty good. Frank said that! Comedian."
"Maybe he was sincere. From what you've told me about him, he could surprise you."
Mike snorted. "He was also a jokester. Adam was always laughing at something he said." He looked around the room. "Was this tea set really made by Paul Revere?"
"So the dealer told me." Eldredge took another puff.
"Should be in Boston." Mike sighed. Why was he talking about silver tea sets when Adam should be the subject of his conversation? "Does he tell everybody he sees Frank?"
Eldredge shook his head. "He's keeping Frank to himself for now."
"Yeah."
& & &
March 16, 1962
Adam frowned as Frank and Detective Tom Hudson laughed at a joke. Young, blond and handsome, Hudson was perched on Frank's desk and Frank was in top form today, well-rested from a few days off and happy to show the visitor from Philadelphia around. Mike was at the watercooler in his office and could see the squadroom through his open side door.
"Is that for real? She really was wearing only feathers and balloons in strategic places?" Hudson asked.
"Scouts' Honor," Frank say as he made the sign with his hand. "McGursky said she caused quite a stir in the subway."
Hudson laughed again. "I'll bet! Hey, you said you were going to show me Maury's Delicatessen."
Adan cleared his throat impatiently. "Frank, you forget we're meeting Libby at Sardi's today?"
"Oh, damn! Sorry, Tom, Adam and I have a date with a beautiful actress."
Hudson glanced behind him at Adam, a small smile curving his lips. "We can do it tomorrow." He turned back to Frank. "I've got to meet with the Commissioner, anyway."
"Excellent." Frank beamed.
Adam relaxed.
Mike shook his head fondly. His polite, sensitive detective could be amusingly possessive! And foolish, too. As if Frank would ever ditch Adam for a pretty from Philly.
& & &
"Jealous," Mike murmured.
"What did you say?"
"Ah, just thinking about cops being protective of their partners." Possessive, too. He watched as a ray of sunlight sparkled on the teapot.
Mike refrained from mentioning the true nature of Frank and Adam's relationship. Despite many psychiatrists' sympathy toward homosexuals, there were obstacles (the profession's handbook, the DSM-IV, classified it as a mental illness). He could not be sure of Eldredge's attitude and did not want Adam to suffer if the good doctor was homophobic.
Maybe he knows and isn't sure of my reaction.
A ship's clock on Eldredge's desk rang the half hour.
"I gotta go." Mike picked up his coat and shrugged it on. "Don't work too hard, Doc. I'll try to visit next week."
"Okay, Lieutenant."
Mike left, nodding to Delia and Maxie on the way out. Once outside, he took a deep breath of fresh air.
He glanced at his watch. Damn, no time to visit his old friend John Clinton, also a patient here. He would definitely try and come next week to visit both of his former officers.
Mike glanced back at the hospital and got into his car.
The Summer of Love? Oh, Adam.
He drove away, unsure whether to be happy or sad.
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