Fic: The Art of Being Lost and Found (28/?), blue cortina, dakfinv
Title: The Art of Being Lost and Found (28/?)
Author: dak
Word Count: 1451 (this part); (40,566 in total, so far)
Rating: blue cortina
Warnings: none here
Summary: Post 2.08. When the Guv goes missing, CID is saddled with an inept "interim" DCI. To find Gene, and the truth, Ray must team up with a hated enemy.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27
Despite his anxieties over the man sleeping in the room below him, Ray fell asleep quickly and remained that way for the rest of the night. As always, his alarm clock chimed all too early and before he knew it, he was rolling out of bed and into the shower. It was only when he was out of the shower that he remembered his anxieties over the man sleeping in the room below.
He dressed quickly, half-hoping the chair was still in place - stuffed firmly under the door knob. The other half of him hoped the chair was knocked over, the door wide open, and Tyler gone. After descending the staircase, he didn’t need to walk all the way down the hall to see that the chair was still there and still blocking the door. He didn’t know which half was happier.
He moved the chair aside, let himself in, and saw Sam sleeping soundly on the couch. Ray grabbed the leather jacket from where it lay on the floor and tossed it onto Tyler, immediately waking him.
“Get yourself together. We have to be at the station in twenty minutes,” Ray turned to walk out, but Sam stopped him.
“We going to the station?” he asked, voice slurred and eye blurry.
“Where else am I supposed to put you?” Ray retorted, then walked out of the room before Sam could ask anything else.
When he entered his kitchen, he spotted the brown paper bag containing Tyler’s medications and lumbered upstairs to search out the note Wynton and written for him. He easily located it - stuffed in yesterday’s jacket pocket. When he returned downstairs Tyler was limping down the hall.
“Where’s your...the...” he closed his eye, trying to remember. “Bathroom,” he finally said.
“Up the stairs, to the right,” Ray nodded and ducked into the kitchen. He heard Sam sigh heavily, then hoist himself noisily up the steps. There weren’t that many stairs. He’d be fine.
Ray uncrumpled Wynton’s instructions, then tried to match the drug names to the various pill bottles.
“’M not a bloody chemist,” he grumbled as he sorted out the various pills. Confident, or at least satisfied, that he had the correct pills set aside, he had time to make himself a bit of toast and devour it before Tyler slumped into the kitchen.
“Need to take those,” Ray said, shoving the pills across the table. He was about to get him a glass of water, when Tyler grabbed the pills and downed the lot in one go.
“Supposed to take them with food,” Sam mumbled, staring hopelessly at the obviously bare kitchen around him.
“We’ll get you summat from canteen. Let’s go.”
“Clothes,” Sam blurted out. “I...these...” he waved at his shirt, the one still stained with Morgan’s blood.
“Guv kept your stuff in Lost and Found. You can change there. Now get your jacket and let’s go.”
Sam looked out the kitchen and down the short hallway to the spare room.
“Couldn’t you...?” he asked, somehow already weary from his morning’s excursions. Granted, he had to be sore from yesterday’s beating.
“I ain’t your mum. If you want your coat, you get your coat.”
Sam sighed, turned, and limped down the hall. It took him nearly five minutes to get his jacket and come back. Ray knew Tyler was moving that slow just to spite him. At least he didn’t need to pick up Chris this morning. Maybe they wouldn’t arrive too late.
Ray didn’t know why he was in such a hurry to get to the station, anyway. Who knew how people were going to react when they saw him bringing in Tyler? Why rush into a minefield? And, it wasn’t as if he wanted to bring along the nutter. There just hadn’t been time to sort out any other options, at least not for today.
With no other choice, Ray reluctantly loaded his keep into the car and made his way to the station, already dreading the forthcoming backlash.
*
“Have to...eat,” Sam hissed. “Drugs...woozy.”
“Stop whinging. Girl,” Ray grumbled as he pulled into the car park.
As much as Tyler apparently wanted to eat, it was an ordeal just getting the berk out of the car, then up the station steps. His body seemed an uncoordinated mess and by the time they made it inside, Sam was heavily relying on Ray for a human crutch.
“Stop clinging to me arm, you bloody poofter,” Ray shook him off as they walked past the front desk. There was no comment from the plonk on duty. She was one of the new WPC’s who hadn’t been there during the Great Tyler Breakdown and the sight of the man himself meant nothing to her. She would probably be the only one.
Ray nearly shoved Sam into the lift and leaned him against the wall while they rode it up to the canteen. The station felt relatively calm this morning. Only Ray, and probably Chris, knew it was the calm before the storm.
As Ray - Tyler in tow - walked to the canteen, any apprehension Sam might have been feeling was unnoticeable. He limped with his head down, hands in his pockets, and his jacket, thankfully, buttoned.
The morning chatter echoed cheerfully into the hall from the canteen. To Ray, it sounded as if the whole world was in there. Of course it had to be busy when they arrived. Nothing about today was going to be easy.
As Ray pushed in the door, he realized the whole world was actually there: Vince, Geoff, and Clyde sat in the corner eating butties; Litton was harassing Gwen for better tea; Cartwright and Phyllis were sitting in the center, nibbling on their own breakies; Chris stood to the side, his full tray still in his hands.
It was clear from Chris’ expression that he had not told anyone Tyler was coming. It was soon clear from the sudden, deathly silence that Chris really had not told anyone Tyler was coming.
Beside him, Sam’s head was still down, his feet continuously scuffing against the floor as he chewed on his thumb. Now the nerves were showing and there was no wondering why.
No one said a word. Not a soul moved. All eyes were locked on the one man they never expected, nor possibly wanted, to see again. The room, in its entirety, and gone into shock, and DS Ray Carling was the cause of it all.
Ray thought this was what the end of the world felt like.
Then, shattering the deafening silence, one person pushed back her chair and rose from her table.
Phyllis Dobbs stormed over to Tyler, her heavy footsteps the only noise in the otherwise soundless room, and enveloped Sam in the biggest bear hug Ray had ever seen in his life.
Tyler had no idea what to do, just stood there with his arms at his sides while Phyllis kept him wrapped tightly in her embrace. Finally, he slowly raised his own arms and returned the hug. As he relaxed into her grip, Sam then buried his face in her shoulder, and none but Ray and Phyllis could see that he was crying.
“There you are, Boss,” she whispered into his ear as one hand rubbed his back. “There you are.”
After a quiet eternity, she gently pulled away, but kept her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to stand upright as she tried to make eye contact.
“You look famished, Boss. What’ve they been feeding you in that place? Nothing hearty, I suspect. Gwen, luv, get us a few of your fine egg butties and a bit of porridge. Plus a nice big cuppa. This boy needs fattening up, he does. And what happened to your eye, Tyler? And your hand? Hope you gave good as you got, sir. Don’t doubt that you did. Now, come over here and have a seat. You look positively knackered.”
Guiding him by the shoulder, Phyllis pushed him across the room and sat him down at her table.
“What are you lot staring at?” she shouted to all in the canteen. “Don’t you have work to do? We’ve scum all over our city and here you are gaping like a load of bloody kippers? Get a move on!”
Sound immediately returned to the canteen as everyone hurried to finish their meal and escape Sergeant Dobbs’ wrath.
Ray watched as Annie became very still, then grabbed her purse and immediately left the table. She said nothing as she passed Ray, but sent him a gaze that would have killed a weaker man. As Ray made his way to Dobbs' table, he noticed Litton slinking away.
Author: dak
Word Count: 1451 (this part); (40,566 in total, so far)
Rating: blue cortina
Warnings: none here
Summary: Post 2.08. When the Guv goes missing, CID is saddled with an inept "interim" DCI. To find Gene, and the truth, Ray must team up with a hated enemy.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27
Despite his anxieties over the man sleeping in the room below him, Ray fell asleep quickly and remained that way for the rest of the night. As always, his alarm clock chimed all too early and before he knew it, he was rolling out of bed and into the shower. It was only when he was out of the shower that he remembered his anxieties over the man sleeping in the room below.
He dressed quickly, half-hoping the chair was still in place - stuffed firmly under the door knob. The other half of him hoped the chair was knocked over, the door wide open, and Tyler gone. After descending the staircase, he didn’t need to walk all the way down the hall to see that the chair was still there and still blocking the door. He didn’t know which half was happier.
He moved the chair aside, let himself in, and saw Sam sleeping soundly on the couch. Ray grabbed the leather jacket from where it lay on the floor and tossed it onto Tyler, immediately waking him.
“Get yourself together. We have to be at the station in twenty minutes,” Ray turned to walk out, but Sam stopped him.
“We going to the station?” he asked, voice slurred and eye blurry.
“Where else am I supposed to put you?” Ray retorted, then walked out of the room before Sam could ask anything else.
When he entered his kitchen, he spotted the brown paper bag containing Tyler’s medications and lumbered upstairs to search out the note Wynton and written for him. He easily located it - stuffed in yesterday’s jacket pocket. When he returned downstairs Tyler was limping down the hall.
“Where’s your...the...” he closed his eye, trying to remember. “Bathroom,” he finally said.
“Up the stairs, to the right,” Ray nodded and ducked into the kitchen. He heard Sam sigh heavily, then hoist himself noisily up the steps. There weren’t that many stairs. He’d be fine.
Ray uncrumpled Wynton’s instructions, then tried to match the drug names to the various pill bottles.
“’M not a bloody chemist,” he grumbled as he sorted out the various pills. Confident, or at least satisfied, that he had the correct pills set aside, he had time to make himself a bit of toast and devour it before Tyler slumped into the kitchen.
“Need to take those,” Ray said, shoving the pills across the table. He was about to get him a glass of water, when Tyler grabbed the pills and downed the lot in one go.
“Supposed to take them with food,” Sam mumbled, staring hopelessly at the obviously bare kitchen around him.
“We’ll get you summat from canteen. Let’s go.”
“Clothes,” Sam blurted out. “I...these...” he waved at his shirt, the one still stained with Morgan’s blood.
“Guv kept your stuff in Lost and Found. You can change there. Now get your jacket and let’s go.”
Sam looked out the kitchen and down the short hallway to the spare room.
“Couldn’t you...?” he asked, somehow already weary from his morning’s excursions. Granted, he had to be sore from yesterday’s beating.
“I ain’t your mum. If you want your coat, you get your coat.”
Sam sighed, turned, and limped down the hall. It took him nearly five minutes to get his jacket and come back. Ray knew Tyler was moving that slow just to spite him. At least he didn’t need to pick up Chris this morning. Maybe they wouldn’t arrive too late.
Ray didn’t know why he was in such a hurry to get to the station, anyway. Who knew how people were going to react when they saw him bringing in Tyler? Why rush into a minefield? And, it wasn’t as if he wanted to bring along the nutter. There just hadn’t been time to sort out any other options, at least not for today.
With no other choice, Ray reluctantly loaded his keep into the car and made his way to the station, already dreading the forthcoming backlash.
*
“Have to...eat,” Sam hissed. “Drugs...woozy.”
“Stop whinging. Girl,” Ray grumbled as he pulled into the car park.
As much as Tyler apparently wanted to eat, it was an ordeal just getting the berk out of the car, then up the station steps. His body seemed an uncoordinated mess and by the time they made it inside, Sam was heavily relying on Ray for a human crutch.
“Stop clinging to me arm, you bloody poofter,” Ray shook him off as they walked past the front desk. There was no comment from the plonk on duty. She was one of the new WPC’s who hadn’t been there during the Great Tyler Breakdown and the sight of the man himself meant nothing to her. She would probably be the only one.
Ray nearly shoved Sam into the lift and leaned him against the wall while they rode it up to the canteen. The station felt relatively calm this morning. Only Ray, and probably Chris, knew it was the calm before the storm.
As Ray - Tyler in tow - walked to the canteen, any apprehension Sam might have been feeling was unnoticeable. He limped with his head down, hands in his pockets, and his jacket, thankfully, buttoned.
The morning chatter echoed cheerfully into the hall from the canteen. To Ray, it sounded as if the whole world was in there. Of course it had to be busy when they arrived. Nothing about today was going to be easy.
As Ray pushed in the door, he realized the whole world was actually there: Vince, Geoff, and Clyde sat in the corner eating butties; Litton was harassing Gwen for better tea; Cartwright and Phyllis were sitting in the center, nibbling on their own breakies; Chris stood to the side, his full tray still in his hands.
It was clear from Chris’ expression that he had not told anyone Tyler was coming. It was soon clear from the sudden, deathly silence that Chris really had not told anyone Tyler was coming.
Beside him, Sam’s head was still down, his feet continuously scuffing against the floor as he chewed on his thumb. Now the nerves were showing and there was no wondering why.
No one said a word. Not a soul moved. All eyes were locked on the one man they never expected, nor possibly wanted, to see again. The room, in its entirety, and gone into shock, and DS Ray Carling was the cause of it all.
Ray thought this was what the end of the world felt like.
Then, shattering the deafening silence, one person pushed back her chair and rose from her table.
Phyllis Dobbs stormed over to Tyler, her heavy footsteps the only noise in the otherwise soundless room, and enveloped Sam in the biggest bear hug Ray had ever seen in his life.
Tyler had no idea what to do, just stood there with his arms at his sides while Phyllis kept him wrapped tightly in her embrace. Finally, he slowly raised his own arms and returned the hug. As he relaxed into her grip, Sam then buried his face in her shoulder, and none but Ray and Phyllis could see that he was crying.
“There you are, Boss,” she whispered into his ear as one hand rubbed his back. “There you are.”
After a quiet eternity, she gently pulled away, but kept her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to stand upright as she tried to make eye contact.
“You look famished, Boss. What’ve they been feeding you in that place? Nothing hearty, I suspect. Gwen, luv, get us a few of your fine egg butties and a bit of porridge. Plus a nice big cuppa. This boy needs fattening up, he does. And what happened to your eye, Tyler? And your hand? Hope you gave good as you got, sir. Don’t doubt that you did. Now, come over here and have a seat. You look positively knackered.”
Guiding him by the shoulder, Phyllis pushed him across the room and sat him down at her table.
“What are you lot staring at?” she shouted to all in the canteen. “Don’t you have work to do? We’ve scum all over our city and here you are gaping like a load of bloody kippers? Get a move on!”
Sound immediately returned to the canteen as everyone hurried to finish their meal and escape Sergeant Dobbs’ wrath.
Ray watched as Annie became very still, then grabbed her purse and immediately left the table. She said nothing as she passed Ray, but sent him a gaze that would have killed a weaker man. As Ray made his way to Dobbs' table, he noticed Litton slinking away.