Title: Little Things
Fandom: Justified
Rating: G
Category: Gen
Characters: Rachel Brooks, Raylan Givens
Disclaimer: If I owned Justified, I'd know how it ends. (Long story.)
Summary: Rachel helps Raylan.
Spoilers: For S4E4.
Notes: Part of the Ain't it good to know you have a friend? verse. Title from Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things. (Author Unknown) (This is not the fic I was talking about in July when I said I lost the book I was writing it. I have to stil finish that fic. This is one that was on my computer. Not sure why I didn't post it before now.)
She knocks on the door. He doesn’t answer. She tries the handle to find the door unlocked. She figures he must’ve been real tired to not bother. But it could be it’s just another way for him to let whatever happens happen. She’s never met a man with a bigger death wish that flaunters it so easily and still lives to tell the many tales.
He lies face down on the bed, having taken just enough time to take off his holster, hat and boots.
She wouldn’t wake up except it’s nearly 4 in the afternoon and she knows he’s been sleeping for 12 hours at least. He said he was once going straight home. She could tell he wasn’t lying about it.
“Raylan… Raylan….Raylan!”
“What?” he says, barely loud enough for her to hear.
“I brought you some coffee and bagels. Thought you might need it.”
He lifts just his head up and looks at her, one eye closed, the other squinting at her. She lifts the food and drinks up so he can see it.
“So this is not a dream?”
“You dream about me often?” He smirks, even barely awake the smirk is in full force. He drops his head back down but only for a second. Then he sits up slowly then swings legs to plant his feet on the floor.
“You’re moving like you and Randall went a few rounds.”
“That and I was on the receiving end of one or two, can’t remember now, bead bags.” She laughs. “Remind me to laugh when it happens to you.”
She laughs again, which causes him to twist around to see her. She rolls her eyes as if to say like I’d ever be in that position.
He nods in agreement. “Excuse me a moment.” While he’s in the bathroom, she places his coffee and bagel down on nightstand on the side he was sleeping. She goes to the other side, sits her down, and then sits down on the bed. She sits back against the headboard. “You really need to get a chair in here.”
“Don’t get much company.” She snorts, which gets no response from him, so he must not have heard.
He’s quiet when he comes back in to the room, the front of his wet from where he must’ve splashed water on this face. He looks a little surprised to see her despite just having talked to her a few minutes before. He settles down gingerly, getting comfortable before he starts to drink and eat.
She talks about what he missed at the office. She makes him laugh twice and he calls her evil.
When he’s done eating, he says, “Be right back.” Right back is more like 10 minutes. He’s got a bottle of bourbon and one shot glass. Her only response is one raised eyebrow.
“Gotta get this place cleaned up. This’ll get me through it.” It either works really fast or he’s ignoring the pain as he starts moving around. He doesn’t ask her to help.
“Want some help?”
He had he back to her so he turns and offers a genuine smile. “I got it. Figured you’re done enough in helping me with Lindsay. Then you go and bring me food and everything.”
“Want me to go?”
“No. Stay. Keep talking.”