Fic: Speaking for the Dead (2/3)
Fandom: Blood Ties
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, Disturbing Subject Matter, Child Abuse
Spoilers: Deep Dark
Word Count: 2518
Summery: Mike may have turned down Astaroth's offer of visions, but now he's getting them anyway, and they're anything but a gift.
AN: I finished this story about a month ago, but I wasn't happy with the ending so I just sort of let it sit. Well, I've decided to break it down into three parts instead of two and rewrite the ending.
Previous Part
The call finally comes when they pull the kid's body out of the river. He's barely recognizable as human, much less a child. Even Dave can't make a joke about it this time.
They get an ID with dental records. Mike and Dave go to see the father. The guy claims that the kid ran away. That the boy was no good, and he's not surprised the boy got himself killed. All the while the guy is talking, Mike can't get the image of the poor kid out of his head. One thing leads to another and in the end it takes two uniforms and Dave to pull him off the guy. He's standing in Crowley's office so fast it makes his head spin.
“What the hell were you thinking, Celluci?” she demands, and he has no idea how to reply. “You assaulted an unarmed man!”
Something in him snaps and he glares back at her. “He killed his own son.”
She starts to reply and then stops, visibly calming herself. “I know.” He blinks, startled. “He confessed right after the uniforms got you out of there. You scared him detective. Of course, there's a chance that he'll retract the confession, but forensics is already going over the home and they think and it looks like they'll be able to gather enough evidence to make it stick.”
She's giving him an intense look, like she knows something he doesn't. He finds it unnerving. When he doesn't say anything she sighs. “He says he's not going to press charges, Detective. He still might change his mind, but I think you got lucky there.” He still doesn't say anything so she continues. “You do realize that I can't just drop this. I am going to have to take some sort of disciplinary action.” She's giving him that look again, but there's something else there as well. It takes him a moment to recognize it as pity. “Is there anything you want to talk about, Detective?”
He suddenly realizes that Crowley has access to all the domestic violence and Child Protective Services reports, and while his name might not be on all of them, his father's name is. It wouldn't be hard to put those pieces together. She's still giving him that look and he feels sick and furious all at once. He never even told Vicki about his father, and he certainly doesn't need Crowley pitying him. He clenches his jaw and snaps out a “No, Ma'am.”
She waits a long moment before replying. “I'm putting you on mandatory medical leave.”
He opens his mouth to reply, to argue that he needs his job, now more than ever, that it's the only thing that keeps him from thinking about everything (Vicki), but he can't get the words out.
“Your coworkers are concerned for your health. I know you've been taking a lot of pain medication, you're obviously not sleeping, you seem frequently distracted... and Detective Lam told me what happened.” The next part looks like it's hard for her to admit, and the lemon look makes a comeback for a few seconds before she plows on. “Our... past differences aside, you're an excellent detective: one of the best I've ever worked with. This past month you've been solving more cases than half the department combined. I'd like to keep you around, Detective, and that's why I'm ordering you to see a doctor.” She hesitates for a second. “And I'm also ordering you to see the police psychologist.”
He clenches his jaw even harder at that. He gives her a curt nod before exiting. Kate tries to talk to him on his way out of the building, but he ignores her, furious that she spoke Crowley. Dave seems to be staying out of his way.
Mike sees the shrink the next evening. The first thing that the guy asks him is: “How are we doing today?” which is just about the most condescending thing anyone has ever said to him, and he's butted heads with Fitzroy. It's all downhill from there. The guy wants to know how Mike's been doing lately, how his work has been, if he's been in any stressful situations, what his childhood was like... The first three Mike can't honestly discuss without getting sent to a mental institution and the last he's unwilling to. It makes for an awkward conversation, but oh, the icing on the cake is that part way through the session, he has a vision.
This time, the killer is a vampire, and it's not Fitzroy. It's a woman with pale hair and cruel eyes. The victim is a young man and she pushes him painfully into a wall and practically rips out his throat. It's far from the worst death that Mike has experienced, or the most painful, but it leaves him with a feeling of helplessness and violation that lingers for a long time afterwards and he can't help but remember that moment in the old church when Fitzroy nearly killed him.
When he wakes up from this one, his neck hurts and an EMT is checking his pulse. He tries to pull away, but he's restrained by the medics and he has to endure being bundled into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
He sees the doctor, who refers him to a neurologist, who tells him that she can't be certain without running some tests, but it looks like he's suffering from absence epilepsy. Which means seizures. Which means spending the rest of his career behind a desk. It's a horrifying thought, and he's struck by a sudden feeling of understanding for what Vicki went through when she found out about her RP.
“Epilepsy can have a number of causes,” the doctor tells him, sounding as if she's repeating something she memorized and has said a dozen times already. “In a man your age, it can be a symptom of a more serious problem. I'm going to schedule you for an MIR and an EEG.” Her voice is pleasant and bland as she goes on about possible causes of epilepsy and possible treatments, which is all very fascinating, except he knows he's not having seizures, he's having demonic visions, and he's pretty sure they don't make medication for that.
The doctors want to have him admitted for observation, but there's no way Mike's staying in the hospital. He signs an AMA and hauls his ass out of the place like the legions of hell are after him. Heck, for all he knows, they are.
On the way out of the hospital lobby, he has another one. This time it's short, only lasting a few seconds; a gang banger is shot to death during a drive by. When he wakes up, he's still standing in the lobby and no one even seems to have noticed. He's confused by this vision. Every vision so far has been related to a case he was about to get, and every vision showed him who the murder is, but this time he doesn't even see the vehicle, he just hears the car drive up, hears the gunshots and feels the pain of dying, but there's nothing there to tell him who the killers are. There's also no way he'll be getting this case; even if he was working right now, he doesn't handle gang violence. When he thinks about it, there's no way he'd be able to bring that killer vampire to justice either, unless setting Fitzroy on her counts, because there's no way he's becoming Mike Celluci, vampire hunter.
Finally, he swallows his pride and decides that he needs to see Fitzroy. The vampire knows a thing or two about demons, and might be able to help Mike put a stop to these visions. Besides, from what Mike knows about vampires and territory, he's pretty certain that Fitzroy will want to know if another vampire is hunting in the area. It's far from an ideal solution, but if it gets a killer off the streets, then Mike is willing to do it.
The problem is, it turns out that Fitzroy is gone. He's moved out of his apartment and gone god knows where. Mike starts to suspect that he's left the city entirely, if the presence of that other vampire is any indication. That... bothers Mike. As much as he dislikes Fitzroy, for many, varied, and in his opinion, valid reasons, he doesn't seem to be a killer, and in Mike's admittedly limited experience on the topic, other vampires frequently are. As long as Fitzroy was in Toronto, a killer vampire wasn't. Now Fitzroy's gone and at least one person has already died in the city.
There's only one person left for Mike to go to, and he finally gives in and gives her a call.
“Oh my god, so you're actually having visions? That's like, so cool!”
“Coreen, keep your voice down, please.” They're sitting at a coffee shop that Coreen picked out. It's far enough from his apartment that he had to call a cab to get there. It's been two days since he saw the doctor, the visions are now coming every few hours so he doesn't dare get behind the wheel of his car. Most of them aren't even taking place in Toronto anymore; he's seen people die as far away as Mexico. The worst part is the feeling of helplessness; at least while he was working he could get justice for these people, could stop their killers from killing again. Now there's nothing he can do but watch them die. He doesn't know how much more of this he can take.
He called Vicki's office, and thankfully, it was Coreen who answered the phone. She agreed to help him and so here they are, discussing visions over coffee (at least Mike is drinking coffee, he's still not entirely sure what exactly it was that Coreen ordered). She's the only person left he thinks might be able to help him, but that doesn't make her enthusiasm any less disconcerting.
“So you've developed ESP? You're psychic now? When you get these visions, do they show you the future?” Coreen is grinning. Mike doesn't get her. Hell, he barely gets the way Vicki was able to accept this stuff, but Coreen honestly seems to enjoy it.
“No, I'm not having premonitions, I'm just seeing this stuff as it happens, and for Christ's sake Coreen, quiet down.”
“I'm sorry, but this is awesome.”
“It's not awesome, Coreen!” he snaps. He takes a deep breath and clams himself down. “I'm sorry, I've just been stressed.”
“Are you okay?” she asks, studying him. “You look awful.”
And he supposes that he does. He isn't really sleeping anymore (the visions keep waking him up at night) and it's getting harder and harder to eat anything. Mike doesn't know how to tell her what's happening to him. He knows if he wants her to help him he should tell her everything, but admitting to the pain feels like admitting to being a victim.
“Are you sure you don't want me to call Vicki?” she asks. He can tell that she's worried. He closes his eyes and tries to compose himself. He can still feel the memory of the way the vampire's teeth tore up that young guy's throat, the way the bullets tore through the gang member's chest and guts, and a dozen other deaths since that. It's hard to concentrate on anything these days.
“She's worried about you, you know.” Coreen says watching him. “You could have at least returned her calls.” Her tone is slightly accusatory and Mike can't honestly blame her, but he also can't risk seeing Vicki again. He doesn't think he can take it.
“How is she?” he asks before he can stop himself.
“Working her ass off. Looking for Astaroth. Trying to find a way to stop a major demon from bringing hell on earth. You know, same old Vicki.” There's a caustic edge to her voice, cloaked underneath the dry humor. She continues, quieter, “She needs you, you know, but you and Henry both walked out on her.”
He can't help the feeling of guilt. He closes his eyes. “She doesn't need me.” And she doesn't. He's resigned himself to the knowledge that he needs her more than she needs him.
Coreen makes a sound of disbelief. Mike still doesn't look at her
“What am I suppose to tell her?” she asks. “That there's something wrong with you, but you still don't want to see her?”
“Tell her... tell her that I'm fine.”
Coreen snorts. “Mike, you're not fine.” He starts to say something but she raises a hand to silence him. “And don't even suggest it. I'm not lying to her about this.”
“Then just don't tell her anything.”
“No promises.” He opens his mouth to retort but she snaps at him. “Do you want my help or not?”
He's struck by the realization that this hasn't been easy on Coreen either. A little over a month ago she was possessed by a demon and literally had her heart torn out. He can see the pain in her eyes, and the worry for Vicki, and he knows that she hasn't recovered from the whole experience, might never recover completely. Suddenly he's not sure he should burden her with this as well. He doesn't even really know her, and it's not her problem.
“Mike, you called me here. So spill. Tell me about these visions.”
And he does. It's hard at first, but once he starts talking it feels like he can't stop. He tells her about how it started with the vision that Astaroth showed him, the fragmentary impressions, and how the visions have been growing sharper, painful, and now so frequent that he can no longer function. There are parts he leaves out, of course. He doesn't tell her about the little boy, or the two young women that killer tortured to death, but even so, when he's finished she looks horrified.
“These visions, they're always of murders?” she asks and he nods in response. “But the first one, that was a kidnapping?”
“Yeah, it was. I was on a special task force, but I usually work homicide.”
“And, up until you were put on medical leave, they were always of cases that you were going to get?” He nods again, and she says, slowly, “So.. you think that Astaroth did something to you.” Her voice catches a little when she says 'Astaroth'.
“You have a better idea? I'm not psychic, Coreen. At least I wasn't before he sent me that first vision. Maybe he scrambled my brain or something, I don't know.”
“Yeah... maybe.” She frowns. “Mike, what if it's not something he did to you, what if it's something he's doing to you.”
“Coreen?” he asks.
She jumps up suddenly, grabbing the remains of her now cold drink. “There's something I need to look up. You... hang tight, and I'll give you a call as soon as I have something.”
Just like that, she's out the door.
Next Part.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, Disturbing Subject Matter, Child Abuse
Spoilers: Deep Dark
Word Count: 2518
Summery: Mike may have turned down Astaroth's offer of visions, but now he's getting them anyway, and they're anything but a gift.
AN: I finished this story about a month ago, but I wasn't happy with the ending so I just sort of let it sit. Well, I've decided to break it down into three parts instead of two and rewrite the ending.
Previous Part
The call finally comes when they pull the kid's body out of the river. He's barely recognizable as human, much less a child. Even Dave can't make a joke about it this time.
They get an ID with dental records. Mike and Dave go to see the father. The guy claims that the kid ran away. That the boy was no good, and he's not surprised the boy got himself killed. All the while the guy is talking, Mike can't get the image of the poor kid out of his head. One thing leads to another and in the end it takes two uniforms and Dave to pull him off the guy. He's standing in Crowley's office so fast it makes his head spin.
“What the hell were you thinking, Celluci?” she demands, and he has no idea how to reply. “You assaulted an unarmed man!”
Something in him snaps and he glares back at her. “He killed his own son.”
She starts to reply and then stops, visibly calming herself. “I know.” He blinks, startled. “He confessed right after the uniforms got you out of there. You scared him detective. Of course, there's a chance that he'll retract the confession, but forensics is already going over the home and they think and it looks like they'll be able to gather enough evidence to make it stick.”
She's giving him an intense look, like she knows something he doesn't. He finds it unnerving. When he doesn't say anything she sighs. “He says he's not going to press charges, Detective. He still might change his mind, but I think you got lucky there.” He still doesn't say anything so she continues. “You do realize that I can't just drop this. I am going to have to take some sort of disciplinary action.” She's giving him that look again, but there's something else there as well. It takes him a moment to recognize it as pity. “Is there anything you want to talk about, Detective?”
He suddenly realizes that Crowley has access to all the domestic violence and Child Protective Services reports, and while his name might not be on all of them, his father's name is. It wouldn't be hard to put those pieces together. She's still giving him that look and he feels sick and furious all at once. He never even told Vicki about his father, and he certainly doesn't need Crowley pitying him. He clenches his jaw and snaps out a “No, Ma'am.”
She waits a long moment before replying. “I'm putting you on mandatory medical leave.”
He opens his mouth to reply, to argue that he needs his job, now more than ever, that it's the only thing that keeps him from thinking about everything (Vicki), but he can't get the words out.
“Your coworkers are concerned for your health. I know you've been taking a lot of pain medication, you're obviously not sleeping, you seem frequently distracted... and Detective Lam told me what happened.” The next part looks like it's hard for her to admit, and the lemon look makes a comeback for a few seconds before she plows on. “Our... past differences aside, you're an excellent detective: one of the best I've ever worked with. This past month you've been solving more cases than half the department combined. I'd like to keep you around, Detective, and that's why I'm ordering you to see a doctor.” She hesitates for a second. “And I'm also ordering you to see the police psychologist.”
He clenches his jaw even harder at that. He gives her a curt nod before exiting. Kate tries to talk to him on his way out of the building, but he ignores her, furious that she spoke Crowley. Dave seems to be staying out of his way.
Mike sees the shrink the next evening. The first thing that the guy asks him is: “How are we doing today?” which is just about the most condescending thing anyone has ever said to him, and he's butted heads with Fitzroy. It's all downhill from there. The guy wants to know how Mike's been doing lately, how his work has been, if he's been in any stressful situations, what his childhood was like... The first three Mike can't honestly discuss without getting sent to a mental institution and the last he's unwilling to. It makes for an awkward conversation, but oh, the icing on the cake is that part way through the session, he has a vision.
This time, the killer is a vampire, and it's not Fitzroy. It's a woman with pale hair and cruel eyes. The victim is a young man and she pushes him painfully into a wall and practically rips out his throat. It's far from the worst death that Mike has experienced, or the most painful, but it leaves him with a feeling of helplessness and violation that lingers for a long time afterwards and he can't help but remember that moment in the old church when Fitzroy nearly killed him.
When he wakes up from this one, his neck hurts and an EMT is checking his pulse. He tries to pull away, but he's restrained by the medics and he has to endure being bundled into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
He sees the doctor, who refers him to a neurologist, who tells him that she can't be certain without running some tests, but it looks like he's suffering from absence epilepsy. Which means seizures. Which means spending the rest of his career behind a desk. It's a horrifying thought, and he's struck by a sudden feeling of understanding for what Vicki went through when she found out about her RP.
“Epilepsy can have a number of causes,” the doctor tells him, sounding as if she's repeating something she memorized and has said a dozen times already. “In a man your age, it can be a symptom of a more serious problem. I'm going to schedule you for an MIR and an EEG.” Her voice is pleasant and bland as she goes on about possible causes of epilepsy and possible treatments, which is all very fascinating, except he knows he's not having seizures, he's having demonic visions, and he's pretty sure they don't make medication for that.
The doctors want to have him admitted for observation, but there's no way Mike's staying in the hospital. He signs an AMA and hauls his ass out of the place like the legions of hell are after him. Heck, for all he knows, they are.
On the way out of the hospital lobby, he has another one. This time it's short, only lasting a few seconds; a gang banger is shot to death during a drive by. When he wakes up, he's still standing in the lobby and no one even seems to have noticed. He's confused by this vision. Every vision so far has been related to a case he was about to get, and every vision showed him who the murder is, but this time he doesn't even see the vehicle, he just hears the car drive up, hears the gunshots and feels the pain of dying, but there's nothing there to tell him who the killers are. There's also no way he'll be getting this case; even if he was working right now, he doesn't handle gang violence. When he thinks about it, there's no way he'd be able to bring that killer vampire to justice either, unless setting Fitzroy on her counts, because there's no way he's becoming Mike Celluci, vampire hunter.
Finally, he swallows his pride and decides that he needs to see Fitzroy. The vampire knows a thing or two about demons, and might be able to help Mike put a stop to these visions. Besides, from what Mike knows about vampires and territory, he's pretty certain that Fitzroy will want to know if another vampire is hunting in the area. It's far from an ideal solution, but if it gets a killer off the streets, then Mike is willing to do it.
The problem is, it turns out that Fitzroy is gone. He's moved out of his apartment and gone god knows where. Mike starts to suspect that he's left the city entirely, if the presence of that other vampire is any indication. That... bothers Mike. As much as he dislikes Fitzroy, for many, varied, and in his opinion, valid reasons, he doesn't seem to be a killer, and in Mike's admittedly limited experience on the topic, other vampires frequently are. As long as Fitzroy was in Toronto, a killer vampire wasn't. Now Fitzroy's gone and at least one person has already died in the city.
There's only one person left for Mike to go to, and he finally gives in and gives her a call.
“Oh my god, so you're actually having visions? That's like, so cool!”
“Coreen, keep your voice down, please.” They're sitting at a coffee shop that Coreen picked out. It's far enough from his apartment that he had to call a cab to get there. It's been two days since he saw the doctor, the visions are now coming every few hours so he doesn't dare get behind the wheel of his car. Most of them aren't even taking place in Toronto anymore; he's seen people die as far away as Mexico. The worst part is the feeling of helplessness; at least while he was working he could get justice for these people, could stop their killers from killing again. Now there's nothing he can do but watch them die. He doesn't know how much more of this he can take.
He called Vicki's office, and thankfully, it was Coreen who answered the phone. She agreed to help him and so here they are, discussing visions over coffee (at least Mike is drinking coffee, he's still not entirely sure what exactly it was that Coreen ordered). She's the only person left he thinks might be able to help him, but that doesn't make her enthusiasm any less disconcerting.
“So you've developed ESP? You're psychic now? When you get these visions, do they show you the future?” Coreen is grinning. Mike doesn't get her. Hell, he barely gets the way Vicki was able to accept this stuff, but Coreen honestly seems to enjoy it.
“No, I'm not having premonitions, I'm just seeing this stuff as it happens, and for Christ's sake Coreen, quiet down.”
“I'm sorry, but this is awesome.”
“It's not awesome, Coreen!” he snaps. He takes a deep breath and clams himself down. “I'm sorry, I've just been stressed.”
“Are you okay?” she asks, studying him. “You look awful.”
And he supposes that he does. He isn't really sleeping anymore (the visions keep waking him up at night) and it's getting harder and harder to eat anything. Mike doesn't know how to tell her what's happening to him. He knows if he wants her to help him he should tell her everything, but admitting to the pain feels like admitting to being a victim.
“Are you sure you don't want me to call Vicki?” she asks. He can tell that she's worried. He closes his eyes and tries to compose himself. He can still feel the memory of the way the vampire's teeth tore up that young guy's throat, the way the bullets tore through the gang member's chest and guts, and a dozen other deaths since that. It's hard to concentrate on anything these days.
“She's worried about you, you know.” Coreen says watching him. “You could have at least returned her calls.” Her tone is slightly accusatory and Mike can't honestly blame her, but he also can't risk seeing Vicki again. He doesn't think he can take it.
“How is she?” he asks before he can stop himself.
“Working her ass off. Looking for Astaroth. Trying to find a way to stop a major demon from bringing hell on earth. You know, same old Vicki.” There's a caustic edge to her voice, cloaked underneath the dry humor. She continues, quieter, “She needs you, you know, but you and Henry both walked out on her.”
He can't help the feeling of guilt. He closes his eyes. “She doesn't need me.” And she doesn't. He's resigned himself to the knowledge that he needs her more than she needs him.
Coreen makes a sound of disbelief. Mike still doesn't look at her
“What am I suppose to tell her?” she asks. “That there's something wrong with you, but you still don't want to see her?”
“Tell her... tell her that I'm fine.”
Coreen snorts. “Mike, you're not fine.” He starts to say something but she raises a hand to silence him. “And don't even suggest it. I'm not lying to her about this.”
“Then just don't tell her anything.”
“No promises.” He opens his mouth to retort but she snaps at him. “Do you want my help or not?”
He's struck by the realization that this hasn't been easy on Coreen either. A little over a month ago she was possessed by a demon and literally had her heart torn out. He can see the pain in her eyes, and the worry for Vicki, and he knows that she hasn't recovered from the whole experience, might never recover completely. Suddenly he's not sure he should burden her with this as well. He doesn't even really know her, and it's not her problem.
“Mike, you called me here. So spill. Tell me about these visions.”
And he does. It's hard at first, but once he starts talking it feels like he can't stop. He tells her about how it started with the vision that Astaroth showed him, the fragmentary impressions, and how the visions have been growing sharper, painful, and now so frequent that he can no longer function. There are parts he leaves out, of course. He doesn't tell her about the little boy, or the two young women that killer tortured to death, but even so, when he's finished she looks horrified.
“These visions, they're always of murders?” she asks and he nods in response. “But the first one, that was a kidnapping?”
“Yeah, it was. I was on a special task force, but I usually work homicide.”
“And, up until you were put on medical leave, they were always of cases that you were going to get?” He nods again, and she says, slowly, “So.. you think that Astaroth did something to you.” Her voice catches a little when she says 'Astaroth'.
“You have a better idea? I'm not psychic, Coreen. At least I wasn't before he sent me that first vision. Maybe he scrambled my brain or something, I don't know.”
“Yeah... maybe.” She frowns. “Mike, what if it's not something he did to you, what if it's something he's doing to you.”
“Coreen?” he asks.
She jumps up suddenly, grabbing the remains of her now cold drink. “There's something I need to look up. You... hang tight, and I'll give you a call as soon as I have something.”
Just like that, she's out the door.
Next Part.