(Untitled)

[themanclion]

Gene had been told to stay off his injured knee for about five days. Of course, that meant that he'd ditched the crutches as soon as he got upstairs and had decided that the next morning was the perfect time to take himself horseriding again.

So the morning after that, when he couldn't walk on the thing at all and had run out of Scotch upstairs, it

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[diced_tartan]

Nicholas knows enough about Gene that he'd expected the guy to just ignore any injuries he might have sustained.

So when he sees the crutch, he quickly reassesses what he'd known about the fight. It was apparently worse than he's been led to believe (although, he still can't get two words out of Travis about the matter, so he's still not sure exactly what happened).

"Who started it?" Nicholas asks tiredly.

He sees no point in pretence on this matter.

[diced_tartan]

"No, he wouldn't," Nicholas says. And then he mutters the next bit. "Never likes it when I say as much, either."

This whole thing is starting to seriously annoy him. As far as Nicholas is concerned, both of them had been complete idiots.

"So, you hit him on the head?" Nicholas asks. "Presumably with a weapon, if it drew blood. You could have killed him."

It's a thought that frankly terrifies him, and which he hides behind that familiar clinical tone.

[themanclion]

'He was pulling all his fancy moves out, of course I bloody smacked 'im on the 'ead!'

Duh.

'Where else am I supposed t'hit him? And f'Christ sakes Doris, I know not t'hit hard enough to kill anyone.'

He has done this sort of thing before.

[diced_tartan]

"Well, he does teach martial arts in his spare time," Nicholas reasons. It's his way of saying that it's no surprise Travis pulled a bunch of fancy moves.

"There are ways to go about incapacitating a man without causing lasting damage. Frankly, he should know better than to have started it in the first place, but you were both in the wrong on this."

DCI or not, Nicholas feels this needs to be said.

[themanclion]

Gene makes a snarling sort of noise and runs a hand over his face. These two are so frustrating.

'How can I be bloody wrong? All I did was come in an' buy a bloody drink!'

And really, did anyone think he wouldn't fight back when someone swung at him?

[diced_tartan]

"Because frankly, you should have known better," Nicholas says. "I realise that he started the fight, and probably whatever ridiculous feud you two have going, but it was not your job to finish it."

He can't believe he's having this conversation in regards to two grown men, let alone two police officers.

"I know you don't think very highly of me, and I'm sure you have your reasons. But what about the example it's setting to everyone else? You and Travis both, having some stupid fight like the sorts of people you've made it your duty keep off the streets? I'm sure there are more than a few people around here now who have developed a distrust of the entire service, thanks to you two."

Nicholas is fairly certain that Guppy will never speak to him properly again, especially after their last failed conversation in the infirmary.

[themanclion]

He literally cannot believe a PC is standing there, trying to lecture him on setting an example.

'And as I've explained to you many times, PC Angel, I couldn' give a flyin' toss for your opinion.'

He leans forward, propping himself on his crutch.

'I didn' start this fight but I'm not abou' t'walk away from it. If he'd just wind his neck in then there wouldn' be a problem. I don' care if you don' like the way I do things. An' I've defended you an' your prickish behaviour to scumbags in this place because we're both coppers but if there's anyone given the force a bad name around here, it's not me.'

[diced_tartan]

Nicholas didn't expect anything he said to have any effect on Gene, but he still can't help be a big disappointed.

He does nod at the crutch, though.

"You're lucky that's the worst you got," he says frankly. "I can't talk any sense into him, but I was rather hoping that you'd be a bit more mature about this whole thing. Apparently what I should be saying is that next time, you might not be so lucky.

"He doesn't need me to stand up for him, as I'm sure you know by now, and nothing I say will ever get him to stop. But I see now that asking you to be the mature and responsible party was just another mistake on my part."

Nicholas decides right here and now that he's done with the other officers around here. They're just as immature and idiotic as the officers back home.

[themanclion]

Gene just sighs and shakes his head.

'I'm not goin' t'go after him. If he comes an' apologises, I'll buy him a beer an' we'll say no more abou' it. You think he's the first copper I've trouble with in my time?'

Not even in the first dozen.

'He's just one of th' most persistant, tha's all. If anyone's carryin' it on, it's him.'

[diced_tartan]

"I'm sure he is," Nicholas says, trying to make it clear that he's just as pissed off at Travis as he is Gene.

"And as long as you keep giving him a reason why he should, he won't stop," Nicholas says. "Trust me. I'd know something like this."

[themanclion]

Gene shrugs. If it carries on, it carries on.

'They all learn in th' end, Angel. Trust me. I know stuff like that.'

And then some.

[diced_tartan]

Nicholas knows he's going to regret this, but...

"And you?" he asks. "What have you learned?"

[themanclion]

Gene looks at him coolly and says nothing for a long moment.

'I'm the Guv, Angel. Nothin' for me t'learn from the likes of him. He's not on my team an' neither are you.'

[diced_tartan]

"Of course not."

Nicholas doesn't even know why he still bothers.

[themanclion]

Gene actively fights learning new stuff. But he does when he needs to.

'Was there somethin' I was supposed to have picked up from all this?'

He genuinally doesn't see what it could be. The day he doesn't defend himself when someone throws a fist at him is the day he hangs up his spurs for good.

[diced_tartan]

"No, I suppose not."

He doesn't even try hiding his disappointment right now. But it's clear that if Gene hasn't learned that there are better ways to solve a conflict than with his fists, he probably never will.