Fic: Steady As She Goes (5/86)
Title: Steady As She Goes (5/86)
Author: dak
Word Count: 1433
Rating: Blue Cortina
Warnings: angst, mild swearing, a bit of vomit
Summary: Gene struggles.
Disclaimer: I'm saving my pennies, but still haven't got enough to buy the rights.
A/N: Continued thanks for all the reviews! This parts a bit shorter than last, and just might have another cliffhanger. Uhm, sorry. I can't seem to help it now.
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 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55 Part 56 Part 57 Part 58 Part 59 Part 60 Part 61 Part 62 Part 63 Part 64 Part 65 Part 66 Part 67 Part 68 Part 69 Part 70 Part 71 Part 72 Part 73 Part 74 Part 75 Part 76 Part 77 Part 78 Part 79 Part 80 Part 81 Part 82 Part 83 Part 84 Part 85 Part 86
“They told me he was out of surgery. Can’t you make up your minds?”
“I’m sorry, sir. It appears the surgeon missed a bleed during the initial operation and they’ve had to go back in to correct the problem.”
Gene rubbed a tired hand through his tangled hair. “Din’t know these doctors got paid for not doing their job right the firs’ time.”
“It was a difficult operation, sir. Even the best surgeon would have had trouble spotting it, with all the other damage,” the exasperated nurse sighed.
“An’ why doesn’t he have the best surgeon?” Gene saw the terrified look in the woman’s eyes and backed off.
“We’ll let you know as soon as he’s out of surgery again. Does he have any family that needs to be contacted?”
Gene hesitated. “His parents. I’ll call ‘em. You best worry that when they come visitin’ him it’s in the ward and not the morgue.” Gene stormed out of the waiting room and out of the hospital. He was beginning to know the way a little to well now.
“His ruddy parents,” Gene growled at no one in particular. He stomped over to a nearby alley where he couldn’t be seen and immediately kicked over a metal bin. “You din’t even think about calling his parents, did you?” Gene paced up and down the alley. “Maybe if Tyler...” Gene stopped himself. He couldn’t blame Sam, not for this anyway. Gene leaned against the wall and finished off one of his flasks, then lit a cigarette.
What the hell was happening to his team? Chris was bleeding to death in hospital. Sam was a nearly broken, drunkard passed out in the cells. Gene should be charging Ray with attempted murder for that one-sided boxing match in the waiting room. Annie was the only one he wasn’t pissed at, but seeing as how things were going she was bound to do something aggravating anytime now.
Through all of this he was still expected to run his city. He truly envied Tyler for what he had done. Sam wasn’t the sheriff. He wasn’t in charge of holding everything together. He’d never known the weight of being a DCI. Nothing, ultimately, was his responsibility and deep down Sam had known that. It was the first time Gene had seen the stubborn bastard take advantage of his inferior rank. Enjoying that freedom, that’s why Gene was really angry at him.
“Least I know he’s human,” Gene sighed as he smoked. There was little time to relax, though, as his radio crackled to life.
“Base to Alpha One. Come in Alpha One.”
Gene kept the cigarette in his mouth as he pulled the radio from his pocket. “Alpha One responding. What is it, Phyllis?”
“Sorry to disturb yeh Guv, but we’ve got a body down by the canal.” Phyllis relayed the exact directions as Gene finished his fag.
“Got it. On my way. Alpha One out.” Gene shoved the radio back in his pocket, swearing that he’d be buried with a radio just so the city could bother him after he was dead. As he left the alley, Gene saw two familiar faces walking up to the hospital.
“Carling. Cartwright. With me.”
Ray and Annie looked at each other, confused, then back at Gene. “We were just going in to see Chris, sir,” Annie replied.
“An’ I was just goin’ ta see a dead body by the canal. You’re both still detectives, aren’t yeh? C’mon then. Skelton aint goin’ anywhere.”
Ray and Annie silently folled their Guv to the car and got inside. As Gene drove them to the crime scene he didn’t have the heart to tell them Chris was back in surgery.
*
Sam vomited for the second time that night. The first time was in the corner. The second time was on the WPC who had been cleaning up from the first time. Sam felt really bad about it. Usually he was so good with women. As the disgusted WPC left, slamming the door much harder than necessary (in Sam’s opinion), he carefully spread himself out on the hard bench that was meant to double as a bed.
It wasn’t comfortable in any sense of the word, but at least when he was lying down with his eyes closed it helped calm the intense feelings of nausea and vertigo that had taken control of his body. That is, it helped until he rolled off the bench.
“Eughh...” Sam moaned as he tried to scoop himself up off the cold floor. However, attempting to stand up again was causing more harm than good and Sam’s body resigned itself to sleeping on the floor.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Oh no. Not that. Not now. C’mon...”
Beep. Beep. His condition seems to have stabilized,
but we’re still very concerned about his low vital signs. Beep. Beep.
“S’too loud. Beep’s too loud...”
Beep. Beep. Hang in there, Sammy. I know you can make it. Beep. Beep.
“Shu’up mum. Lemme sleep...”
Sam sicked up again but was too tired to move away, his body finally allowing him to pass out.
Phyllis opened the door and called for the WPC, the same one as earlier. The young woman looked at the mess and stepped back. “Oh no. I’m not cleanin’ up after ‘im again.”
“You’ll do as your told, girl, or I’ll have yeh cleanin’ out the grease traps in canteen for the rest of your bloody career.”
The woman frowned and went off in search of a mop and bucket. Phyllis entered the cell. “You had to steal me best WPC, din’t you?” She carefully pulled Sam away from the mess. “You know, Tyler, we’re goin’ to need to burn this cell if we ever want to use it again.” She draped a clean blanket over him. “You’ll never live this one down, Boss. I’ll make sure of it.”
Sam mumbled something incoherent in reply. Phyllis patted him on the shoulder and waited for the WPC to return with her bucket.
*
Annie held onto the door handle as the Cortina swerved to a stop. Riding with Gene Hunt should have been covered in her police training she decided. She and Ray started to get out of the car, but Gene stopped them.
“Ray, you know where Chris’ parents are?” The look on Ray’s face told Gene he hadn’t thought of contacting them either. Now Gene didn’t feel like such a nonce.
“They’re on holiday. Blackpool I think. Chris mentioned summat about joinin’ them this weekend.”
“We get back to the station, you track ‘em down.”
“Yes Guv.”
“An’ Ray? You lay a single finger on Gladys again an’ I’ll ‘ave you busted down to PC so fast your head’ll have to move quicker than Red Rum jus’ to stay attached.”
Gene exited the car without another word. Annie left just as quickly, not wanting to get stuck in an enclosed space with Ray should his head choose to explode.
Ray surprisingly kept his anger under control, choosing to focus on Chris rather than his snivelling, know-it-all, prissy bitch of a DI.
Plod escorted the three detectives to the scene. There wasn’t much to see as everything looked as it should, minus the motionless body on the embankment.
“Who found ‘im?”
“Lady walking her dog,” a PC responded. “Dog started to get in it, woman thought it was a badger or summat. Til she saw the hand.”
Annie started taking notes and Ray started smoking as Gene moved closer to the body.
“Bruises ‘round the neck. Looks like the poor bastard was strangled.”
“Any signs of a struggle, Guv?” Ray asked, trying to get back on his good side.
“He was strangled Ray. That sounds like quite a struggle to me.”
Gene looked at the man’s face. More of a boy actually, Gene thought. For some reason his face looked familiar, though Gene had no idea why. Maybe it was because he sort of looked like Chris. Maybe it was because he had two different colored eyes, like Chris. Maybe it was because he was the lad from the off license where Gene had found Sam’s warrant card.
Gene suddenly started looking around the body for clues, for evidence.
“What is it?” Annie asked.
Gene saw nothing, about to give up and let the forensics boys have a go, when he noticed a bit of paper sticking out behind the corpse’s back. Thankful he was still wearing his driving gloves, Gene carefully pulled out the paper.
The heading at the top indicated it belonged to the Lloyd Street case file.
“Well shit.”
_____
Part 6
Author: dak
Word Count: 1433
Rating: Blue Cortina
Warnings: angst, mild swearing, a bit of vomit
Summary: Gene struggles.
Disclaimer: I'm saving my pennies, but still haven't got enough to buy the rights.
A/N: Continued thanks for all the reviews! This parts a bit shorter than last, and just might have another cliffhanger. Uhm, sorry. I can't seem to help it now.
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 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55 Part 56 Part 57 Part 58 Part 59 Part 60 Part 61 Part 62 Part 63 Part 64 Part 65 Part 66 Part 67 Part 68 Part 69 Part 70 Part 71 Part 72 Part 73 Part 74 Part 75 Part 76 Part 77 Part 78 Part 79 Part 80 Part 81 Part 82 Part 83 Part 84 Part 85 Part 86
“They told me he was out of surgery. Can’t you make up your minds?”
“I’m sorry, sir. It appears the surgeon missed a bleed during the initial operation and they’ve had to go back in to correct the problem.”
Gene rubbed a tired hand through his tangled hair. “Din’t know these doctors got paid for not doing their job right the firs’ time.”
“It was a difficult operation, sir. Even the best surgeon would have had trouble spotting it, with all the other damage,” the exasperated nurse sighed.
“An’ why doesn’t he have the best surgeon?” Gene saw the terrified look in the woman’s eyes and backed off.
“We’ll let you know as soon as he’s out of surgery again. Does he have any family that needs to be contacted?”
Gene hesitated. “His parents. I’ll call ‘em. You best worry that when they come visitin’ him it’s in the ward and not the morgue.” Gene stormed out of the waiting room and out of the hospital. He was beginning to know the way a little to well now.
“His ruddy parents,” Gene growled at no one in particular. He stomped over to a nearby alley where he couldn’t be seen and immediately kicked over a metal bin. “You din’t even think about calling his parents, did you?” Gene paced up and down the alley. “Maybe if Tyler...” Gene stopped himself. He couldn’t blame Sam, not for this anyway. Gene leaned against the wall and finished off one of his flasks, then lit a cigarette.
What the hell was happening to his team? Chris was bleeding to death in hospital. Sam was a nearly broken, drunkard passed out in the cells. Gene should be charging Ray with attempted murder for that one-sided boxing match in the waiting room. Annie was the only one he wasn’t pissed at, but seeing as how things were going she was bound to do something aggravating anytime now.
Through all of this he was still expected to run his city. He truly envied Tyler for what he had done. Sam wasn’t the sheriff. He wasn’t in charge of holding everything together. He’d never known the weight of being a DCI. Nothing, ultimately, was his responsibility and deep down Sam had known that. It was the first time Gene had seen the stubborn bastard take advantage of his inferior rank. Enjoying that freedom, that’s why Gene was really angry at him.
“Least I know he’s human,” Gene sighed as he smoked. There was little time to relax, though, as his radio crackled to life.
“Base to Alpha One. Come in Alpha One.”
Gene kept the cigarette in his mouth as he pulled the radio from his pocket. “Alpha One responding. What is it, Phyllis?”
“Sorry to disturb yeh Guv, but we’ve got a body down by the canal.” Phyllis relayed the exact directions as Gene finished his fag.
“Got it. On my way. Alpha One out.” Gene shoved the radio back in his pocket, swearing that he’d be buried with a radio just so the city could bother him after he was dead. As he left the alley, Gene saw two familiar faces walking up to the hospital.
“Carling. Cartwright. With me.”
Ray and Annie looked at each other, confused, then back at Gene. “We were just going in to see Chris, sir,” Annie replied.
“An’ I was just goin’ ta see a dead body by the canal. You’re both still detectives, aren’t yeh? C’mon then. Skelton aint goin’ anywhere.”
Ray and Annie silently folled their Guv to the car and got inside. As Gene drove them to the crime scene he didn’t have the heart to tell them Chris was back in surgery.
*
Sam vomited for the second time that night. The first time was in the corner. The second time was on the WPC who had been cleaning up from the first time. Sam felt really bad about it. Usually he was so good with women. As the disgusted WPC left, slamming the door much harder than necessary (in Sam’s opinion), he carefully spread himself out on the hard bench that was meant to double as a bed.
It wasn’t comfortable in any sense of the word, but at least when he was lying down with his eyes closed it helped calm the intense feelings of nausea and vertigo that had taken control of his body. That is, it helped until he rolled off the bench.
“Eughh...” Sam moaned as he tried to scoop himself up off the cold floor. However, attempting to stand up again was causing more harm than good and Sam’s body resigned itself to sleeping on the floor.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Oh no. Not that. Not now. C’mon...”
Beep. Beep. His condition seems to have stabilized,
but we’re still very concerned about his low vital signs. Beep. Beep.
“S’too loud. Beep’s too loud...”
Beep. Beep. Hang in there, Sammy. I know you can make it. Beep. Beep.
“Shu’up mum. Lemme sleep...”
Sam sicked up again but was too tired to move away, his body finally allowing him to pass out.
Phyllis opened the door and called for the WPC, the same one as earlier. The young woman looked at the mess and stepped back. “Oh no. I’m not cleanin’ up after ‘im again.”
“You’ll do as your told, girl, or I’ll have yeh cleanin’ out the grease traps in canteen for the rest of your bloody career.”
The woman frowned and went off in search of a mop and bucket. Phyllis entered the cell. “You had to steal me best WPC, din’t you?” She carefully pulled Sam away from the mess. “You know, Tyler, we’re goin’ to need to burn this cell if we ever want to use it again.” She draped a clean blanket over him. “You’ll never live this one down, Boss. I’ll make sure of it.”
Sam mumbled something incoherent in reply. Phyllis patted him on the shoulder and waited for the WPC to return with her bucket.
*
Annie held onto the door handle as the Cortina swerved to a stop. Riding with Gene Hunt should have been covered in her police training she decided. She and Ray started to get out of the car, but Gene stopped them.
“Ray, you know where Chris’ parents are?” The look on Ray’s face told Gene he hadn’t thought of contacting them either. Now Gene didn’t feel like such a nonce.
“They’re on holiday. Blackpool I think. Chris mentioned summat about joinin’ them this weekend.”
“We get back to the station, you track ‘em down.”
“Yes Guv.”
“An’ Ray? You lay a single finger on Gladys again an’ I’ll ‘ave you busted down to PC so fast your head’ll have to move quicker than Red Rum jus’ to stay attached.”
Gene exited the car without another word. Annie left just as quickly, not wanting to get stuck in an enclosed space with Ray should his head choose to explode.
Ray surprisingly kept his anger under control, choosing to focus on Chris rather than his snivelling, know-it-all, prissy bitch of a DI.
Plod escorted the three detectives to the scene. There wasn’t much to see as everything looked as it should, minus the motionless body on the embankment.
“Who found ‘im?”
“Lady walking her dog,” a PC responded. “Dog started to get in it, woman thought it was a badger or summat. Til she saw the hand.”
Annie started taking notes and Ray started smoking as Gene moved closer to the body.
“Bruises ‘round the neck. Looks like the poor bastard was strangled.”
“Any signs of a struggle, Guv?” Ray asked, trying to get back on his good side.
“He was strangled Ray. That sounds like quite a struggle to me.”
Gene looked at the man’s face. More of a boy actually, Gene thought. For some reason his face looked familiar, though Gene had no idea why. Maybe it was because he sort of looked like Chris. Maybe it was because he had two different colored eyes, like Chris. Maybe it was because he was the lad from the off license where Gene had found Sam’s warrant card.
Gene suddenly started looking around the body for clues, for evidence.
“What is it?” Annie asked.
Gene saw nothing, about to give up and let the forensics boys have a go, when he noticed a bit of paper sticking out behind the corpse’s back. Thankful he was still wearing his driving gloves, Gene carefully pulled out the paper.
The heading at the top indicated it belonged to the Lloyd Street case file.
“Well shit.”
_____
Part 6