Unreasonable Doubt (Life/Standoff: Charlie/Matt PG-13)
Title: Unreasonable Doubt
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Charlie/Matt
Word Count: 1,042
Warnings: Life/Standoff crossover
Summary: For the Alphabet Meme prompt N is for Nothing given by caersmane and the chem15try prompt isomers - Matt has a bad day at work.
+++
He should've listened when Cheryl said it didn't have to be him, that they could use someone else, but Matt said he'd be fine, and even though he saw the look in her eyes, Cheryl didn't press the issue.
The drive to Pelican Bay made him nauseous, anxious. Matt remembered, though, that the drive there was never as bad as the drive back.
+
The HT was a guard and had only been working at the prison for a handful of months. Someone hadn't done a proper background check at hiring and missed that the guard was the brother of one of the inmates. They'd been put into the foster care system by the state, separated, and eventually adopted by different families. The guard, Marcus Castrano, hadn't known what happened to his older brother until he saw the trial footage on the news. Marcus had called 9-1-1 himself and given his only demand - the state expunge his brother's record and release him.
"Angel Montenegro," he'd told the operator before hanging up, "is innocent."
+
Matt ignored the déjà vu when the fences came into sight, calling Lia to have her send anything and everything she could find about the case. He then found Frank, who was talking to the SORT team. That the SORT team didn't just handle this themselves meant it wasn't just prisoners being held hostage, and it didn't take long for Matt to learn that the warden was there, too.
When Frank grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, Matt resisted the urge to shake him off. "What the hell are you doing here, Flannery?"
"Wondering if this place is good for anything other than ruining peoples' lives."
His cell phone rang; Lia had sent the case file, the testimonies, the evidence and crime scene photos. Matt went to the trailer without another word to Frank.
+
The case hit too close to home in all the wrong places despite the differences. A family dead, but in a botched robbery. A claim to innocence, but wasn't that always the case? It was rare that they actually were. And a prison hospital record that left Matt doubting Montenegro would survive another year.
But the case was solid. Montenegro had stolen a cell phone and used it after the crime. He claimed he bought it from someone, but his fingerprints were at the scene, and when they swept Angel's apartment, clothes and shoes were found with the family's blood. A missing nine iron with hairs and glowed with Luminol under UV light erased any lingering doubt.
They hadn't even tried for an insanity plea.
+
"You think this is helping your brother, Marcus, but it's not. How can you help Angel if you're in jail, too?"
"My brother couldn't have killed those people."
"You were five years old the last time you saw him. You looked up to your brother, he was all you had, but, Marcus, that was fifteen years ago. Ask him yourself if he's innocent before you throw your life away for him."
+
On the monitor, Matt watched the video feed from the camera that had been snaked through the air vents. Castrano had put the phone down, and Matt could hear talking in the background but not clearly enough to discern what was being said.
Marcus was talking to his brother, barricaded in the warden's office with the warden, three other guards, and two other inmates. The inmates would occasionally strike the warden or one of the guards with a baton across the shoulders or the back of the legs. Marcus was the only one with a gun, which was being waved in the air as he argued with Angel.
Crossing the room, Marcus picked the phone back up. "I'm not letting you take me from my brother - never again. I'm sorry."
"Marcus, no, wait!" Matt yelled as on the monitor he watched the gun get raised, but he couldn't reach Marcus, couldn't connect, and watched as Marcus shot his brother in the head before turning the gun on himself.
Matt looked away, but he heard it all too clearly. He threw the phone at the trailer wall hard enough that it shattered, shards of plastic scattering on the floor making him think of the back of Marcus's skull doing the same in the warden's office.
Matt turned the monitor off as the SORT team broke through the barricaded door.
+
He turned off his phone, climbed into his car, and left without a word, without so much as eye contact or even waiting for debriefing. Matt felt bad leaving Cheryl to deal with the press by herself, but his being there would only make things worse since they all knew who he was. He'd be suspended for a while, Matt was sure of it, and it would all be for show.
He'd told Cheryl he'd be fine. He'd thought he would be. It had nearly been two years since he'd been to Pelican Bay. Not enough time had passed, and Matt doubted it ever would.
+
Matt didn't notice that his hands were shaking until he tried opening a beer and kept fumbling the bottle opener. He swore and practically jumped out of his skin when he felt an arm wrap around his waist. "I didn't know you were home," he said, leaning back into Charlie.
"Only just. Frank called to make sure you got back in one piece." Charlie leaned in so his head was pressed against Matt's as he grabbed the bottle opener and pried off the cap. Matt wasn't really interested in the beer anymore, though, since he now had what he really needed. He could feel Charlie tilt his head so his mouth was at Matt's temple, just in front of his ear. "I'll gladly report you did. I wouldn't know what to do with you if you were in more than one. Start a circus act, perhaps?"
"What else did Frank tell you?"
"Nothing. He did ask if I had any vacation days to use, though. Then he said something vague about going away for a while, but he might have been talking about himself."
Matt took a sip of beer, thinking that might have been one of the better ideas Frank had ever had.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Charlie/Matt
Word Count: 1,042
Warnings: Life/Standoff crossover
Summary: For the Alphabet Meme prompt N is for Nothing given by caersmane and the chem15try prompt isomers - Matt has a bad day at work.
+++
He should've listened when Cheryl said it didn't have to be him, that they could use someone else, but Matt said he'd be fine, and even though he saw the look in her eyes, Cheryl didn't press the issue.
The drive to Pelican Bay made him nauseous, anxious. Matt remembered, though, that the drive there was never as bad as the drive back.
+
The HT was a guard and had only been working at the prison for a handful of months. Someone hadn't done a proper background check at hiring and missed that the guard was the brother of one of the inmates. They'd been put into the foster care system by the state, separated, and eventually adopted by different families. The guard, Marcus Castrano, hadn't known what happened to his older brother until he saw the trial footage on the news. Marcus had called 9-1-1 himself and given his only demand - the state expunge his brother's record and release him.
"Angel Montenegro," he'd told the operator before hanging up, "is innocent."
+
Matt ignored the déjà vu when the fences came into sight, calling Lia to have her send anything and everything she could find about the case. He then found Frank, who was talking to the SORT team. That the SORT team didn't just handle this themselves meant it wasn't just prisoners being held hostage, and it didn't take long for Matt to learn that the warden was there, too.
When Frank grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, Matt resisted the urge to shake him off. "What the hell are you doing here, Flannery?"
"Wondering if this place is good for anything other than ruining peoples' lives."
His cell phone rang; Lia had sent the case file, the testimonies, the evidence and crime scene photos. Matt went to the trailer without another word to Frank.
+
The case hit too close to home in all the wrong places despite the differences. A family dead, but in a botched robbery. A claim to innocence, but wasn't that always the case? It was rare that they actually were. And a prison hospital record that left Matt doubting Montenegro would survive another year.
But the case was solid. Montenegro had stolen a cell phone and used it after the crime. He claimed he bought it from someone, but his fingerprints were at the scene, and when they swept Angel's apartment, clothes and shoes were found with the family's blood. A missing nine iron with hairs and glowed with Luminol under UV light erased any lingering doubt.
They hadn't even tried for an insanity plea.
+
"You think this is helping your brother, Marcus, but it's not. How can you help Angel if you're in jail, too?"
"My brother couldn't have killed those people."
"You were five years old the last time you saw him. You looked up to your brother, he was all you had, but, Marcus, that was fifteen years ago. Ask him yourself if he's innocent before you throw your life away for him."
+
On the monitor, Matt watched the video feed from the camera that had been snaked through the air vents. Castrano had put the phone down, and Matt could hear talking in the background but not clearly enough to discern what was being said.
Marcus was talking to his brother, barricaded in the warden's office with the warden, three other guards, and two other inmates. The inmates would occasionally strike the warden or one of the guards with a baton across the shoulders or the back of the legs. Marcus was the only one with a gun, which was being waved in the air as he argued with Angel.
Crossing the room, Marcus picked the phone back up. "I'm not letting you take me from my brother - never again. I'm sorry."
"Marcus, no, wait!" Matt yelled as on the monitor he watched the gun get raised, but he couldn't reach Marcus, couldn't connect, and watched as Marcus shot his brother in the head before turning the gun on himself.
Matt looked away, but he heard it all too clearly. He threw the phone at the trailer wall hard enough that it shattered, shards of plastic scattering on the floor making him think of the back of Marcus's skull doing the same in the warden's office.
Matt turned the monitor off as the SORT team broke through the barricaded door.
+
He turned off his phone, climbed into his car, and left without a word, without so much as eye contact or even waiting for debriefing. Matt felt bad leaving Cheryl to deal with the press by herself, but his being there would only make things worse since they all knew who he was. He'd be suspended for a while, Matt was sure of it, and it would all be for show.
He'd told Cheryl he'd be fine. He'd thought he would be. It had nearly been two years since he'd been to Pelican Bay. Not enough time had passed, and Matt doubted it ever would.
+
Matt didn't notice that his hands were shaking until he tried opening a beer and kept fumbling the bottle opener. He swore and practically jumped out of his skin when he felt an arm wrap around his waist. "I didn't know you were home," he said, leaning back into Charlie.
"Only just. Frank called to make sure you got back in one piece." Charlie leaned in so his head was pressed against Matt's as he grabbed the bottle opener and pried off the cap. Matt wasn't really interested in the beer anymore, though, since he now had what he really needed. He could feel Charlie tilt his head so his mouth was at Matt's temple, just in front of his ear. "I'll gladly report you did. I wouldn't know what to do with you if you were in more than one. Start a circus act, perhaps?"
"What else did Frank tell you?"
"Nothing. He did ask if I had any vacation days to use, though. Then he said something vague about going away for a while, but he might have been talking about himself."
Matt took a sip of beer, thinking that might have been one of the better ideas Frank had ever had.