The High Life (5/? Shannon/Stella)
Title: The High Life
Author: wiked_nachos
Fandom/Pairing: Rush - Shannon/Stella
Summary: Stella's brother Frank is slowly becoming corrupt from the influences of gangs and tastes of the high life. Unknowingly and unwillingly, he involves her in the dispute with a local gang who holds a lot of power in the area. On top of recovering from being thrown into the consequences of her brother screwing over a violent gang of drug addicts and traffickers, Stella has to deal with a long-lasting not-so-secret relationship at work, a clingly ex-fling and a stalker. How will Shannon and Stella survive these rough times? Together or apart? As friends or lovers?
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Rush so this could really happen more than once a week for more than one hour every time.
A/N: unbeta'd, so bear with me if there are any spelling or gramatical mistakes and please R&R
Before their debriefing at the end of their shift, Lawson made Stella sit down with Kerry and explain why she had accidentally discharged her weapon into a mirror while searching for an offender. It didn't take Kerry long to believe her, but still forced her to write up a report half an hour later when everyone else, including Leon, had already gone home. Typically, Lawson was still at the base, maps and plans spread out across two desks, muttering to himself.
When he couldn't think anymore, he walked away from the desks to get himself a cup of coffee, only to find Stella, report laying forgotten on her table, watching the lapel camera footage from the night of the shooting in Leon's armchair.
"You're just reliving your nightmare," he said, coffee in hand.
Stella didn't look away from the footage, but felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she was the innocent man fall to the floor dead in a back row. The offender fell not a split second later.
"I guess I'm still trying to understand it, to an extent. Just trying to accept that I'm responsible, but that it was accident," she said slowly, finally turning to look at Lawson, pausing the footage on the big screen hanging on the wall. "It's been nearly three months, and I'm starting to get it, Lawson."
Her voice went quiet, and Lawson took Audrey's empty seat next to Stella, staring at the screen.
"You know why I am and will be so hard on you for the moment, right?"
"You want to make sure that I have everyone's back, that I'm not going to break, and so that I know I'm being watched more closely," she said. Shannon's words from earlier in the day came flooding back to her and Stella repeated them automatically, just to see if the older woman was right.
She was.
"Pretty much," said Lawson. "What happened that night" he pointed to the screen "can affect anyone in any number of ways. You walked away two months ago. But you came back, ready to take it all on, like all you needed was some time away from this job. Does it feel like most of the weight has been lifted?"
"Most," she answered.
"Good. I'm glad you came back, Stel," he said, patting her on the shoulder and returning to his own desk. "Finish your report tomorrow. Go home."
Her eyes followed him back to his desk, watching for a moment before glancing at her watch. She had been staring at the death of Nicholas Dennis for two hours. Her shift officially ended four hours before, but they had only finished their debriefing an hour later.
She stood up, stretched and felt her back pop several times satisfactorily. She filed her report in Kerry's in-tray with a post-it note on top.
'Will finish tomorrow -Stella.'
She pulled her bag from her locker and trudged out into the darkness of the night.
Stella had been getting more sleep since returning to work at the Tactical Response. She was still averaging four to five hours a night. She arrived early at work the following day to complete her report, finishing it with ease after her talk with Lawson the night before. It didn't take long before other members of the team arrived, Michael was late after a night out with the boys and Josh arrived with Leon having picked him up on the way in.
Josh and Stella were double checking the inventory in the back of TR2, having a comfortable conversation as they went.
"So you and Shannon have been spending a lot of time together," he said, smirking at her. "Anything I should know?"
"Gossip Queen. Anything you should know, or anything you want to know?" retorted Stella.
"Ooh. So it's like that. Are you sleeping with her?"
The coffee she had taken a sip of quickly came out of her mouth and onto the garage floor. Josh simply laughed at her.
"Did you have to ask that while I had something in my mouth?" she scolded, punching him on the arm as he bent over in his fit of giggles.
"Yes," he struggled to get out, watching as Shannon looked down the hallway at them as she entered the bathroom.
"No, I am not. There is nothing going on, Josh. You know very well that she doesn't dig chicks," she argued, once Josh straightened up.
"She might not dig chicks, but I can tell she digs you," he said, smiling.
"Bullshit," she exclaimed, her hands automatically dropping the folder she was holding on top of a bag. "How can you tell?"
"Why do you think I'm not sleeping with her?"
"You serious or are you yanking my chain?" she asked, jokes aside as her face turned serious.
"I ain't yanking anything of yours," he said, offended at the idea, "but yes, I am being serious."
Stella stopped to think for a moment, staring into space. Her conversation with Shannon from over two months ago came flooding back to her and a look of realisation took over her features.
"What's new with you? We haven't really talked since just before the shooting," said Stella, suddenly avoiding eye contact. Shannon could see a slight smirk on her face. "You still hooking up with Josh?"
"Nah, that ended months ago. I've kinda of had my mind on someone else for a while. That and I was sick of meaningless sex, despite how amazingly mind-blowing it was," she explained, slightly blushing as she reached across the small table for the bottle of wine.
"So, what? You're off sex?" Stella sounded slightly abashed.
"A vow of celibacy for one year. I'm three months in," said Shannon, as if proud of herself.
"Regret it yet?" asked Stella, a cocky grin on her face, the size of her pupils suggesting her was well on her way to a hangover the next morning.
"No," smiled Shannon, giggling along with her friend. "Not yet."
"So who is this other person you've had your eye on?" was asked after a few minutes silence, the only sound coming from knives and forks on the ceramic plates. Curiosity had killed the cat and was close to killing Stella as well.
"Oh, it's no one. Let me ask you something. How did you know that you were interested in women?"
Stella had not been expecting that kind of question and the piece of chicken she was aiming for her mouth missed completely.
"I just did. I don't think there was ever a specific moment. I just don't apply the boundaries of sexuality to myself I guess. Is this an interest in my personal history, or are you experiencing something?"
"I dunno. I'm not sure yet," said Shannon, shrugging her shoulders. Stella smiled. "Let's move on, shall we?"
"Holy shit," she breathed out.
"Now she gets it," said Josh, throwing his arms out in mock relief. "So, what are you going to do?"
"What?"
"I thought you were fast. Come on," he commented, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "What are you going to do about Shannon liking you?"
She looked dumbfounded and nervous; Shannon was walking towards the car zipping up the pocket holding her mobile phone.
"Are we ready?"
Stella looked as Josh who nodded, moving to close the boot. He quickly whispered to Stella, "I give you fifty bucks if you to ask her out and go through with it," and moved passed to get into the passenger seat.
Stella stood still as TR1 reversed out and took off, a piece of paper bounced off of her head and she flipped Josh off, getting into the driver's seat and taking off.
"You okay, Stel?" asked Shannon, looking at the TR building as they merged into traffic.
Stella's mouth went dry, she gulped and breathed deep trying to calm herself. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Josh sat there smirking until Leon came over their comm's who told them about a disturbance outside the Recreation Hotel. When they arrived five minutes later thanks to Stella's driving, pub patrons were trying to fight off a group of young racists.
After getting to the middle of the scuffle and separated most of them, the patrons back into the pub and the young drunk men outside, Josh set Shannon and Stella the task of manning the door with the three uniformed officers, as he went inside to talk to the owner.
"Shan, Stel, on the door. No one goes in or out!" he yelled, slamming the doors behind him.
One of the drunken louts outside the pub took an instant liking to Stella, laughing as she used all of her strength to push him back, her hands slipping against his traditional navy blue singlet of a tradesman. Seeing as the patrons were locals, several of them knew about the back entrance. Apparently, so did the guys outside, as they pushed passed Shannon and Stella and took off for the alley.
The two women shared a look, sighed and chased after them, meeting up with Josh and the majority of the patrons.
Three officers against thirty-odd pissed off drunks was not a fair fight, Stella learning that the hard way. The owner of the pub was suddenly hanging over Stella's shoulder, making it increasingly difficult to hold back the guy in the singlet and keep them apart.
"JOSH!" she yelled, turning to put her strength into pushing the owner away, leaving the young man behind her to pull his fist back.
Although he was aiming for Edward the pub owner, his fisted landed directly on her nose, causing a large amount of blood to quickly gush out. He stumbled back realising he had just assaulted a police officer, and stumbled back even further when Shannon punched him. Twice.
He went down hard and the overflow of testosterone disappeared almost as quickly as the voices of the drunks did.
"Piss off," she said, moving back to her original position between the groups.
"Ha! You're not so tough now, are you?" someone yelled from the back of the group of patrons. The rest of them laughed at him, as his mates tried to help him up.
Stella had one hand against the wall of the building next to the pub, the other clamping her nose closed.
"Stel, you right?" asked Josh, keeping a grip on one of the patrons.
"Yeah," she breathed, testing herself as she slowly removed her hand, a sickly feeling washing over her as she felt the clumps of blood run freely down her face. A tissue was handed to her, and she gratefully took it, pushing it to her nose and seeing her hands now smeared with blood.
"You lot, back inside! Now! Or I'll arrest you all!" yelled Josh, pushing the patrons back in through the door. Shannon pushed the other group back when several of them tried to follow.
According to Stella, uniforms had a habit of turning up at situations after they had been dealt with by TR teams. Her nose had finally stopped bleeding as she smiled, watching Josh flex cuff the guy who had hit her, sitting him down against the pub wall.
Kerry's voice came over their ear pieces.
"Hey, guys. Do you need reinforcements?"
"Nah, we're good," answered Josh.
"Are you sure you don't want some back up?"
"We've already closed it down, it's fine."
Stella and Shannon were watching with matching grins.
"What about Stella's friend there?" asked Kerry. Leon had their lapel camera footage on the big screen in the offices, and they both watched as Shannon knocked out the offender.
"I'll get one of the uniforms to take him."
"How's Stella?"
"What's with all of the questions? It's only Stella?" Josh said to the girls earning a smile, before answering Kerry. "Ah, she'll live."
"Do you want to tell Shannon to tone it down a bit? She's giving us a bad name!"
They all sniggered and Stella pushed Shannon jokingly.
"You right?" asked Josh.
"Peachy," retorted Stella.
"Hey Stel, go change your shirt. Shan, get their rego's and ID's, get the uniforms to help you breathalyse the lot of them before they go anywhere," ordered the Senior Sergeant, watching Stella walk off to the car, Shannon to the closest uniformed officer, as he pulled up the offender responsible for punching Stella and handing him off to another officer.
"Hey, mate, you know I never meant to hit her. That old wog's a stupid prick, man. You'd hit him too if you had a chance," he yelled, as he was helped into the back of a marked police car.
Stella offered to send some fines to the pub owner as she changed her shirt and directed him back towards the doors. The bogan pride, referred to by Josh as two sped away, soon dissipated and they got back into TR2, waiting for a new assignment as Stella drove off.
Josh's phone went off, and while he didn't recognise the number, he answered it anyway.
"Minka? Which pier are you at?"
Shannon and Stella shared a look through the rear view mirror as Josh ordered Stella down to the St Kilda pier.
As she drove down the worn pier, Josh quickly spotted Minka near some stairs to the water level.
"This is your emergency?" asked Stella.
The fourteen year old had taken an immediate liking to him after he rescued her and returned her to her mother. Minka had been kidnapped by drug dealers when her uncle refused to transport their drugs using his truck. From the car, according to Michael, Josh had seemed a little awestruck when he met Minka's mother Tash as he took the girl up to her house.
"I'll just be a minute."
"Is this on the clock?" asked Shannon, bother her and Stella getting out and following.
He fixed them with a glare and they went back to the car, leaning against the side and watching. The girl began to get angry with him when he seemed unhappy to be there. He offered her money for a cab home, but she refused and Josh walked away, tipping out the contents of the Vodka bottle over the edge.
Upset and drink, Minka jumped off the pier to Shannon and Stella's horror. There were hundreds of boats and yachts in the bay, all with anchors down, and the pier no doubt had rusty and algae covered spikes sticking out at odd angles.
They rushed forward, but Josh threw out a hand to stop them and walked down the stairs, yelling at Minka to swim, because he wasn't getting in after her.
"There's a cafe up across from the pier, go for some coffee," said Josh, which came across as more than an order than a suggestion. He had set Minka up with a blanket and a seat in the boot of the car.
"Are you going to be alright with this?" asked Shannon.
"Yeah, just disappear for ten minutes."
The breeze from the water was icy, and the two women dugs their hands into their pockets and began the walk back up the pier.
"What in the hell is going on with him and that girl?"
"I think it's more what is she trying to orchestrate between Josh and her mother?" said Stella, rephrasing Shannon's original question.
"True."
"Hey, speaking of relationships, or lack thereof, you never told me who it was that you liked," pried Stella, trying to suss out if Josh had been telling the truth.
"What?"
Shannon was a little lost at what Stella was talking about, but was getting more nervous at the topic she was heading towards.
"That night you came over, when I was waiting for my transfer papers for Preston to go through, you said that you had your eye one some, but you brushed it off. 'Oh it's no one,'" said Stella, quoting the older woman from their dinner night.
Shannon smiled awkwardly and closed her eyes, wishing for the moment to end. She breathed deeply, simply refusing to answer.
"Come on, tell me," she nudged Shannon with her elbow, not wanting to take her hands out of her pockets.
"You're not going to drop it, are you?"
"Nope, so you may as well just tell me. Or I'll have to ask Leon to take a snoop into your phone records," she joked.
Shannon stopped halfway up the pier, turning to look at Josh and Minka as the smile faded from her face.
"I only joking about the whole phone records thing," said Stella, thinking she had upset Shannon.
"It's you."
"What's me?"
"The person I like," confessed Shannon, before continuing to walk up the pier. "It's you."
'Josh was right,' thought Stella, before chasing after the older woman. "Why didn't tell me?"
"Because I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure if it was real or if it was because we were spending time together. I didn't want to get my heart broken," admitted Shannon, her voice getting quieter.
"You think I would break your heart?"
Stella felt something crack inside, something she hadn't felt since Alana had left; her own heart breaking.
"No, I don't think you would break my heart," said Shannon.
"I don't understand."
"I think that I would break your heart, and the idea of that breaks my heart." She sighed loudly. "I didn't want to tell you in case it ruined everything, our friendship, our working relationship."
"Shannon. Josh has known how I feel for a long time," she started, but it sounded wrong. "I don't mean to say that I like him, that's just gross. But he knows that I like you. That's what we were talking about this morning when we were checking the gear."
"You like me?"
"Yep." The 'p' popped once again and Shannon swallowed loudly, giving a half-hearted laugh as she took in what she had just been told.
They stopped outside a small cafe and started at each other. Shannon was having some difficulty trying to determine if Stella was telling the truth. She had a reputation for being a bit of a player. The sergeant decided there and then on the spot, that she should take the chance, even if she couldn't tell.
They went into the cafe in silence, ordering to go, and left quietly, not speaking to each other.
"How long have you liked me?" asked Stella, smiling playfully and wrapping her hands around her cup of coffee.
"Since you handed me my ballistics vest on my first day," answered Shannon, truthfully and trying not to blush. Stella let out a small laugh and they crossed the road back to the pier.
"Can I take you out tonight?"
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Shannon received an enthusiastic nod in return. "Okay, but answer me this."
"Okay, if you promise me something."
"How long have you liked me?"
"I can't pinpoint it," said Stella. The look on her face showed her honesty, the look in her eyes a genuine softness that was rare in the young Senior Constable. "But I'm pretty sure it got stronger the night you stayed over, after Napthorn questioned me. Just lying there with you, it felt good. It felt right. What?"
"I've never seen you be so sappy," smiled Shannon, poking the brunette with a cold finger.
"Hey, you asked. I thought it might be a good start if I was honest, but you want to make fun of me, so..."
Stella trailed off and walked faster, pretending to be mad at Shannon, but let her catch up.
"What about your promise?"
Stella stopped and turned to Shannon. Their walk both up and back down the pier had gone relatively fast, both women engrossed in their conversation. They were nearly at the car and Josh and Minka were still in the boot of the car. Stella took a deep breath and told Shannon
"If we do do this, make a go of it I mean, just promise me that you'll tell me if it feels more like an experiment than a relationship? I've been through some shit in the last few months, and the only thing that really made me happy was coming back to TR, because it meant I got to see you every day. I know it's quite a bit to dump on you and we haven't even gone out on a real date yet, but I would rather you be upfront, than lead me on."
Shannon's eyes had begun to tear up.
"I can promise you now, that this is not experimental, despite the fact that you are the first woman I would have ever been with. I really like you, Stella. I'm not going to mess with you about this. I really, really like you," promised Shannon, emphasising just how much and how hard she was crushing on the younger woman standing in front of her.
"Really, really, huh? Two 'really's'? You must be serious," joked Stella, pulling Shannon toward the car. She smiled and laughed along.
They spend five minutes in comfortable silence leaning against the barriers near the stairs, waiting for Josh and Minka and then took the teen home. Michael wasn't kidding when he said Josh was awestruck when meeting Tash. Now they seemed awkward from the view in the car.
"This is VKC, requesting response to a disturbance at Ted's Mini Golf and Arcade."
"This is TR2, we'll take that," Shannon answered, as Stella did ran to get Josh. Shannon pulled out the Melways to direct her to the address Leon sent through.
"So what's the story, Leon?" asked Shannon, from the back seat.
Stella backed out and sped off back the way they came.
"Apparently a woman walked in looking for her kids, saw them with their father and started screaming something about kidnapping them."
"Mini golf?" asked Shannon, not looking up.
"What? You don't like it?" she asked
"Never been," she answered, looking out the window for a road sign. "Take a left at the next intersection, Stel."
"Never?" The idea of a child never experiencing mini golf was ludicrous to Stella.
"Nope, mum was always working and dad was never around. By the time mum remarried, I was older and had better things to do with my friends. I wasn't into the arcade or minigolf. I was a bookworm. Right down Gerald Street."
"Ah, guys you might want to hurry up," said Leon. "The woman had taken a golf club to the ex-husband and he's trying to protect the kids."
Stella scoffed from the front seat, "The things people do to get custody of the kids."
"Step on it, Stel," said Josh, sitting calmly as the car pushed over 120 kilometres per hour down the highway.
Ten minutes later, once again thanks to Stella's driving, they arrived at Ted's Mini Golf and Arcade and could hear the woman yelling from outside the compound. Running through the front door, they saw a worker and he pointed straight out the automatic doors that led to the golf course.
There they saw a balding man on his knees, two small kids behind him looking scared as their mother, a short blond woman held a mini gold putter at him. The man had a small gash across his forehead, but a rather large bruise and was looking slightly dizzy and unable to focus. Josh turned to the manager who had several staff members keeping people back as they arrived.
Josh turned to Shannon and Stella, and directed them silently towards spots with good views and good access.
"You the manager?" asked Josh.
"Manager and owner, Ted Potter," he said, shaking Josh's hand.
"What happened?" asked Josh, holding down his comm's button for the girls to hear.
"Dad and the kids were fine, just started a round on the outside course. Then twenty minutes later, mum rocks up and starts screaming that the kids had been kidnapped. The she grabbed a club of a kid nearby and hit him with it," he explained.
"Did it seem to you that the kids had been kidnapped?"
"No, they seemed happy to be with their dad. If he did kidnap them, why would he bring them here? Why not make a run for it?"
"Okay, just keep everyone back. Shannon, you take point on this," said Josh, pulling out his taser instead of his glock.
"Excuse me. I'm Sergeant Shannon Henry," she started.
"This bastard kidnapped my kids!" yelled the woman.
"What's your name?"
"Emma. Toms. Emma Toms," she answered. Her husband moved to stand, and she pulled back the club, ready to hit him again.
"Emma! Emma! Just talk to me, don't look at him, talk to me," said Shannon, hand raised in warning. "What can I do for you?
"I want my kids back!"
"You want them back. You want them back safely and happy?" asked Shannon.
All three TR members could see her falter as she nodded.
"Well, this is not the way to do it. Your kids are scared. Scared because of what their mum is doing right now."
"He took them. From my mother's house! The judge said we needed permission from my mother. Their only grandmother. They're staying with her while we sort out the custody of the kids!" she yelled, brandishing the club at him again.
"She said I could take them for the day! They wanted to see me!"
"What's your name, sir?"
"Jake Toms."
"Alright, Jake, you need to be quiet, right now. Can you do that?"
"Sure," his grip on his kids tightened slightly.
"Emma, your kids are really scared at the moment. How about you put down the club and let us make sure they're okay?" suggested Shannon.
The hostage situation was quickly diffused as Shannon was told to negotiate and used the kids as leverage. Once Emma Toms realised that this could end her time with her kids, she put the club down and was quickly arrested. Shannon was watching the kids, talking about their game of golf with their dad and what had happened when their mother arrived yelling and screaming.
Stella watched from a distance as the Shannon laughed at something the little boy had said, turned to Josh and told him she was going to find a bathroom.
"Question the manager while you're in there, Stel," said Josh, who was standing next to the ambulance as the officer looked at the head wound on the father.
She went looking for the manager and quickly found him trying to reassure his customers.
"Ted, can I have a word?"
"Yeah, sure," he said. "Anything you need."
After discussing the hostage situation, Stella turned the conversation to a more personal matter.
"Off the record and out of curiosity, do you hire out the course to parties and such?" she asked.
"Sometime, it depends how desperate the parents are," he joked, smiling casually. "You need it for a kids party?"
"Not quite," she smiled.
"Guys, there has been a report of shots fired of the Recreation Hotel," said Leon, and TR2 could hear the tapping of Leon's fingers across his keyboard.
"Go," was all that Josh said, turning on the lights and sirens again.
The pub owner from that morning, Edward, had shot the young man who had punched Stella, who was now lying in the doorway of the hotel, bleeding from the shoulder. Josh put Stella in charge of negotiations, and Shannon was given the rifle to cover the door. Josh took care of the visuals.
"Hi Edward, this is Senior Constable Stella Dagostino, we were here this morning," she introduced herself.
"Oh yeah you're the one who got punched."
"Oh yeah, that was me. Now look. I know there is an injured man in your pub and I need to know what happened."
"Looks like someone shot the bastard," he said, sarcastically.
"We're you involved in that Edward? Are you alright, Edward?"
"Yeah, I'm fit as a fiddle. How's your nose?"
"Yeah it's fine, thanks, but that man looks like he needs some medical attention," she explained, looking through the windows of the car at the young man lying on his side.
"Don't you recognise him?" asked Edward.
"I do, he looks like the man who hit me, and I would like to get him some help, okay?"
You know, I thought you folks took things like this kind of seriously, yet here he is a couple hours after you've arrested him. What does that tell you?"
"That no cares about modelling career."
She earned a light laugh from Edward. She was able to gain his trust enough to allow Josh to go and collect the man from the door and to the ambulance.
TR1 joined them shortly after and Lawson took over for Josh. Christian and Michael were set the task of watching the back door. After Edward hung up on Stella, a gun went off from inside the pub, and everyone instinctively ducked down. There was no answer over the phone or through the front door. Josh suggested the siren ball, Lawson handed it to Shannon and told her to have Michael throw it.
It took Michael two attempts to get the siren ball through the door window, having to smash it with a piece of wood on the second attempt. As soon as Lawson had turned it off, they stormed the building and found his shotgun behind the bar. They found him in the cellar with a gunshot wound holding a knife.
Despite what her boss had told her prior to storming the building, Stella trusted Edward and he willingly handed over the knife and allowed Lawson to handcuff him. He scolded her outside as they were returning to the car. Shannon was leaning against TR1.
"Lawson, it all ended up okay," she said.
"Just write up your report," he dismissed.
"I knew that I was doing in there, okay?"
"Really?" Lawson was being sarcastic now.
"Look, he wanted someone to trust him, I did, and it was okay," she said, stopping.
"You write that in your report," he said, pointing at her to add emphasis, and he walked away.
They walked to the cars to leave.
"Go Maverick," she retorted, getting into the back seat.
Thankfully, their shift was over and all they had to do was write up their reports, which took everyone well over an hour. TR2 had attended to two high level situations that required every bit of detail. As Shannon pulled on her jacket, she turned to Stella.
"What are we doing tonight?"
Stella smiled back to her, happy about her chance to prove herself.
"You'll see."
Author: wiked_nachos
Fandom/Pairing: Rush - Shannon/Stella
Summary: Stella's brother Frank is slowly becoming corrupt from the influences of gangs and tastes of the high life. Unknowingly and unwillingly, he involves her in the dispute with a local gang who holds a lot of power in the area. On top of recovering from being thrown into the consequences of her brother screwing over a violent gang of drug addicts and traffickers, Stella has to deal with a long-lasting not-so-secret relationship at work, a clingly ex-fling and a stalker. How will Shannon and Stella survive these rough times? Together or apart? As friends or lovers?
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Rush so this could really happen more than once a week for more than one hour every time.
A/N: unbeta'd, so bear with me if there are any spelling or gramatical mistakes and please R&R
Before their debriefing at the end of their shift, Lawson made Stella sit down with Kerry and explain why she had accidentally discharged her weapon into a mirror while searching for an offender. It didn't take Kerry long to believe her, but still forced her to write up a report half an hour later when everyone else, including Leon, had already gone home. Typically, Lawson was still at the base, maps and plans spread out across two desks, muttering to himself.
When he couldn't think anymore, he walked away from the desks to get himself a cup of coffee, only to find Stella, report laying forgotten on her table, watching the lapel camera footage from the night of the shooting in Leon's armchair.
"You're just reliving your nightmare," he said, coffee in hand.
Stella didn't look away from the footage, but felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she was the innocent man fall to the floor dead in a back row. The offender fell not a split second later.
"I guess I'm still trying to understand it, to an extent. Just trying to accept that I'm responsible, but that it was accident," she said slowly, finally turning to look at Lawson, pausing the footage on the big screen hanging on the wall. "It's been nearly three months, and I'm starting to get it, Lawson."
Her voice went quiet, and Lawson took Audrey's empty seat next to Stella, staring at the screen.
"You know why I am and will be so hard on you for the moment, right?"
"You want to make sure that I have everyone's back, that I'm not going to break, and so that I know I'm being watched more closely," she said. Shannon's words from earlier in the day came flooding back to her and Stella repeated them automatically, just to see if the older woman was right.
She was.
"Pretty much," said Lawson. "What happened that night" he pointed to the screen "can affect anyone in any number of ways. You walked away two months ago. But you came back, ready to take it all on, like all you needed was some time away from this job. Does it feel like most of the weight has been lifted?"
"Most," she answered.
"Good. I'm glad you came back, Stel," he said, patting her on the shoulder and returning to his own desk. "Finish your report tomorrow. Go home."
Her eyes followed him back to his desk, watching for a moment before glancing at her watch. She had been staring at the death of Nicholas Dennis for two hours. Her shift officially ended four hours before, but they had only finished their debriefing an hour later.
She stood up, stretched and felt her back pop several times satisfactorily. She filed her report in Kerry's in-tray with a post-it note on top.
'Will finish tomorrow -Stella.'
She pulled her bag from her locker and trudged out into the darkness of the night.
Stella had been getting more sleep since returning to work at the Tactical Response. She was still averaging four to five hours a night. She arrived early at work the following day to complete her report, finishing it with ease after her talk with Lawson the night before. It didn't take long before other members of the team arrived, Michael was late after a night out with the boys and Josh arrived with Leon having picked him up on the way in.
Josh and Stella were double checking the inventory in the back of TR2, having a comfortable conversation as they went.
"So you and Shannon have been spending a lot of time together," he said, smirking at her. "Anything I should know?"
"Gossip Queen. Anything you should know, or anything you want to know?" retorted Stella.
"Ooh. So it's like that. Are you sleeping with her?"
The coffee she had taken a sip of quickly came out of her mouth and onto the garage floor. Josh simply laughed at her.
"Did you have to ask that while I had something in my mouth?" she scolded, punching him on the arm as he bent over in his fit of giggles.
"Yes," he struggled to get out, watching as Shannon looked down the hallway at them as she entered the bathroom.
"No, I am not. There is nothing going on, Josh. You know very well that she doesn't dig chicks," she argued, once Josh straightened up.
"She might not dig chicks, but I can tell she digs you," he said, smiling.
"Bullshit," she exclaimed, her hands automatically dropping the folder she was holding on top of a bag. "How can you tell?"
"Why do you think I'm not sleeping with her?"
"You serious or are you yanking my chain?" she asked, jokes aside as her face turned serious.
"I ain't yanking anything of yours," he said, offended at the idea, "but yes, I am being serious."
Stella stopped to think for a moment, staring into space. Her conversation with Shannon from over two months ago came flooding back to her and a look of realisation took over her features.
"What's new with you? We haven't really talked since just before the shooting," said Stella, suddenly avoiding eye contact. Shannon could see a slight smirk on her face. "You still hooking up with Josh?"
"Nah, that ended months ago. I've kinda of had my mind on someone else for a while. That and I was sick of meaningless sex, despite how amazingly mind-blowing it was," she explained, slightly blushing as she reached across the small table for the bottle of wine.
"So, what? You're off sex?" Stella sounded slightly abashed.
"A vow of celibacy for one year. I'm three months in," said Shannon, as if proud of herself.
"Regret it yet?" asked Stella, a cocky grin on her face, the size of her pupils suggesting her was well on her way to a hangover the next morning.
"No," smiled Shannon, giggling along with her friend. "Not yet."
"So who is this other person you've had your eye on?" was asked after a few minutes silence, the only sound coming from knives and forks on the ceramic plates. Curiosity had killed the cat and was close to killing Stella as well.
"Oh, it's no one. Let me ask you something. How did you know that you were interested in women?"
Stella had not been expecting that kind of question and the piece of chicken she was aiming for her mouth missed completely.
"I just did. I don't think there was ever a specific moment. I just don't apply the boundaries of sexuality to myself I guess. Is this an interest in my personal history, or are you experiencing something?"
"I dunno. I'm not sure yet," said Shannon, shrugging her shoulders. Stella smiled. "Let's move on, shall we?"
"Holy shit," she breathed out.
"Now she gets it," said Josh, throwing his arms out in mock relief. "So, what are you going to do?"
"What?"
"I thought you were fast. Come on," he commented, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "What are you going to do about Shannon liking you?"
She looked dumbfounded and nervous; Shannon was walking towards the car zipping up the pocket holding her mobile phone.
"Are we ready?"
Stella looked as Josh who nodded, moving to close the boot. He quickly whispered to Stella, "I give you fifty bucks if you to ask her out and go through with it," and moved passed to get into the passenger seat.
Stella stood still as TR1 reversed out and took off, a piece of paper bounced off of her head and she flipped Josh off, getting into the driver's seat and taking off.
"You okay, Stel?" asked Shannon, looking at the TR building as they merged into traffic.
Stella's mouth went dry, she gulped and breathed deep trying to calm herself. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Josh sat there smirking until Leon came over their comm's who told them about a disturbance outside the Recreation Hotel. When they arrived five minutes later thanks to Stella's driving, pub patrons were trying to fight off a group of young racists.
After getting to the middle of the scuffle and separated most of them, the patrons back into the pub and the young drunk men outside, Josh set Shannon and Stella the task of manning the door with the three uniformed officers, as he went inside to talk to the owner.
"Shan, Stel, on the door. No one goes in or out!" he yelled, slamming the doors behind him.
One of the drunken louts outside the pub took an instant liking to Stella, laughing as she used all of her strength to push him back, her hands slipping against his traditional navy blue singlet of a tradesman. Seeing as the patrons were locals, several of them knew about the back entrance. Apparently, so did the guys outside, as they pushed passed Shannon and Stella and took off for the alley.
The two women shared a look, sighed and chased after them, meeting up with Josh and the majority of the patrons.
Three officers against thirty-odd pissed off drunks was not a fair fight, Stella learning that the hard way. The owner of the pub was suddenly hanging over Stella's shoulder, making it increasingly difficult to hold back the guy in the singlet and keep them apart.
"JOSH!" she yelled, turning to put her strength into pushing the owner away, leaving the young man behind her to pull his fist back.
Although he was aiming for Edward the pub owner, his fisted landed directly on her nose, causing a large amount of blood to quickly gush out. He stumbled back realising he had just assaulted a police officer, and stumbled back even further when Shannon punched him. Twice.
He went down hard and the overflow of testosterone disappeared almost as quickly as the voices of the drunks did.
"Piss off," she said, moving back to her original position between the groups.
"Ha! You're not so tough now, are you?" someone yelled from the back of the group of patrons. The rest of them laughed at him, as his mates tried to help him up.
Stella had one hand against the wall of the building next to the pub, the other clamping her nose closed.
"Stel, you right?" asked Josh, keeping a grip on one of the patrons.
"Yeah," she breathed, testing herself as she slowly removed her hand, a sickly feeling washing over her as she felt the clumps of blood run freely down her face. A tissue was handed to her, and she gratefully took it, pushing it to her nose and seeing her hands now smeared with blood.
"You lot, back inside! Now! Or I'll arrest you all!" yelled Josh, pushing the patrons back in through the door. Shannon pushed the other group back when several of them tried to follow.
According to Stella, uniforms had a habit of turning up at situations after they had been dealt with by TR teams. Her nose had finally stopped bleeding as she smiled, watching Josh flex cuff the guy who had hit her, sitting him down against the pub wall.
Kerry's voice came over their ear pieces.
"Hey, guys. Do you need reinforcements?"
"Nah, we're good," answered Josh.
"Are you sure you don't want some back up?"
"We've already closed it down, it's fine."
Stella and Shannon were watching with matching grins.
"What about Stella's friend there?" asked Kerry. Leon had their lapel camera footage on the big screen in the offices, and they both watched as Shannon knocked out the offender.
"I'll get one of the uniforms to take him."
"How's Stella?"
"What's with all of the questions? It's only Stella?" Josh said to the girls earning a smile, before answering Kerry. "Ah, she'll live."
"Do you want to tell Shannon to tone it down a bit? She's giving us a bad name!"
They all sniggered and Stella pushed Shannon jokingly.
"You right?" asked Josh.
"Peachy," retorted Stella.
"Hey Stel, go change your shirt. Shan, get their rego's and ID's, get the uniforms to help you breathalyse the lot of them before they go anywhere," ordered the Senior Sergeant, watching Stella walk off to the car, Shannon to the closest uniformed officer, as he pulled up the offender responsible for punching Stella and handing him off to another officer.
"Hey, mate, you know I never meant to hit her. That old wog's a stupid prick, man. You'd hit him too if you had a chance," he yelled, as he was helped into the back of a marked police car.
Stella offered to send some fines to the pub owner as she changed her shirt and directed him back towards the doors. The bogan pride, referred to by Josh as two sped away, soon dissipated and they got back into TR2, waiting for a new assignment as Stella drove off.
Josh's phone went off, and while he didn't recognise the number, he answered it anyway.
"Minka? Which pier are you at?"
Shannon and Stella shared a look through the rear view mirror as Josh ordered Stella down to the St Kilda pier.
As she drove down the worn pier, Josh quickly spotted Minka near some stairs to the water level.
"This is your emergency?" asked Stella.
The fourteen year old had taken an immediate liking to him after he rescued her and returned her to her mother. Minka had been kidnapped by drug dealers when her uncle refused to transport their drugs using his truck. From the car, according to Michael, Josh had seemed a little awestruck when he met Minka's mother Tash as he took the girl up to her house.
"I'll just be a minute."
"Is this on the clock?" asked Shannon, bother her and Stella getting out and following.
He fixed them with a glare and they went back to the car, leaning against the side and watching. The girl began to get angry with him when he seemed unhappy to be there. He offered her money for a cab home, but she refused and Josh walked away, tipping out the contents of the Vodka bottle over the edge.
Upset and drink, Minka jumped off the pier to Shannon and Stella's horror. There were hundreds of boats and yachts in the bay, all with anchors down, and the pier no doubt had rusty and algae covered spikes sticking out at odd angles.
They rushed forward, but Josh threw out a hand to stop them and walked down the stairs, yelling at Minka to swim, because he wasn't getting in after her.
"There's a cafe up across from the pier, go for some coffee," said Josh, which came across as more than an order than a suggestion. He had set Minka up with a blanket and a seat in the boot of the car.
"Are you going to be alright with this?" asked Shannon.
"Yeah, just disappear for ten minutes."
The breeze from the water was icy, and the two women dugs their hands into their pockets and began the walk back up the pier.
"What in the hell is going on with him and that girl?"
"I think it's more what is she trying to orchestrate between Josh and her mother?" said Stella, rephrasing Shannon's original question.
"True."
"Hey, speaking of relationships, or lack thereof, you never told me who it was that you liked," pried Stella, trying to suss out if Josh had been telling the truth.
"What?"
Shannon was a little lost at what Stella was talking about, but was getting more nervous at the topic she was heading towards.
"That night you came over, when I was waiting for my transfer papers for Preston to go through, you said that you had your eye one some, but you brushed it off. 'Oh it's no one,'" said Stella, quoting the older woman from their dinner night.
Shannon smiled awkwardly and closed her eyes, wishing for the moment to end. She breathed deeply, simply refusing to answer.
"Come on, tell me," she nudged Shannon with her elbow, not wanting to take her hands out of her pockets.
"You're not going to drop it, are you?"
"Nope, so you may as well just tell me. Or I'll have to ask Leon to take a snoop into your phone records," she joked.
Shannon stopped halfway up the pier, turning to look at Josh and Minka as the smile faded from her face.
"I only joking about the whole phone records thing," said Stella, thinking she had upset Shannon.
"It's you."
"What's me?"
"The person I like," confessed Shannon, before continuing to walk up the pier. "It's you."
'Josh was right,' thought Stella, before chasing after the older woman. "Why didn't tell me?"
"Because I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure if it was real or if it was because we were spending time together. I didn't want to get my heart broken," admitted Shannon, her voice getting quieter.
"You think I would break your heart?"
Stella felt something crack inside, something she hadn't felt since Alana had left; her own heart breaking.
"No, I don't think you would break my heart," said Shannon.
"I don't understand."
"I think that I would break your heart, and the idea of that breaks my heart." She sighed loudly. "I didn't want to tell you in case it ruined everything, our friendship, our working relationship."
"Shannon. Josh has known how I feel for a long time," she started, but it sounded wrong. "I don't mean to say that I like him, that's just gross. But he knows that I like you. That's what we were talking about this morning when we were checking the gear."
"You like me?"
"Yep." The 'p' popped once again and Shannon swallowed loudly, giving a half-hearted laugh as she took in what she had just been told.
They stopped outside a small cafe and started at each other. Shannon was having some difficulty trying to determine if Stella was telling the truth. She had a reputation for being a bit of a player. The sergeant decided there and then on the spot, that she should take the chance, even if she couldn't tell.
They went into the cafe in silence, ordering to go, and left quietly, not speaking to each other.
"How long have you liked me?" asked Stella, smiling playfully and wrapping her hands around her cup of coffee.
"Since you handed me my ballistics vest on my first day," answered Shannon, truthfully and trying not to blush. Stella let out a small laugh and they crossed the road back to the pier.
"Can I take you out tonight?"
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Shannon received an enthusiastic nod in return. "Okay, but answer me this."
"Okay, if you promise me something."
"How long have you liked me?"
"I can't pinpoint it," said Stella. The look on her face showed her honesty, the look in her eyes a genuine softness that was rare in the young Senior Constable. "But I'm pretty sure it got stronger the night you stayed over, after Napthorn questioned me. Just lying there with you, it felt good. It felt right. What?"
"I've never seen you be so sappy," smiled Shannon, poking the brunette with a cold finger.
"Hey, you asked. I thought it might be a good start if I was honest, but you want to make fun of me, so..."
Stella trailed off and walked faster, pretending to be mad at Shannon, but let her catch up.
"What about your promise?"
Stella stopped and turned to Shannon. Their walk both up and back down the pier had gone relatively fast, both women engrossed in their conversation. They were nearly at the car and Josh and Minka were still in the boot of the car. Stella took a deep breath and told Shannon
"If we do do this, make a go of it I mean, just promise me that you'll tell me if it feels more like an experiment than a relationship? I've been through some shit in the last few months, and the only thing that really made me happy was coming back to TR, because it meant I got to see you every day. I know it's quite a bit to dump on you and we haven't even gone out on a real date yet, but I would rather you be upfront, than lead me on."
Shannon's eyes had begun to tear up.
"I can promise you now, that this is not experimental, despite the fact that you are the first woman I would have ever been with. I really like you, Stella. I'm not going to mess with you about this. I really, really like you," promised Shannon, emphasising just how much and how hard she was crushing on the younger woman standing in front of her.
"Really, really, huh? Two 'really's'? You must be serious," joked Stella, pulling Shannon toward the car. She smiled and laughed along.
They spend five minutes in comfortable silence leaning against the barriers near the stairs, waiting for Josh and Minka and then took the teen home. Michael wasn't kidding when he said Josh was awestruck when meeting Tash. Now they seemed awkward from the view in the car.
"This is VKC, requesting response to a disturbance at Ted's Mini Golf and Arcade."
"This is TR2, we'll take that," Shannon answered, as Stella did ran to get Josh. Shannon pulled out the Melways to direct her to the address Leon sent through.
"So what's the story, Leon?" asked Shannon, from the back seat.
Stella backed out and sped off back the way they came.
"Apparently a woman walked in looking for her kids, saw them with their father and started screaming something about kidnapping them."
"Mini golf?" asked Shannon, not looking up.
"What? You don't like it?" she asked
"Never been," she answered, looking out the window for a road sign. "Take a left at the next intersection, Stel."
"Never?" The idea of a child never experiencing mini golf was ludicrous to Stella.
"Nope, mum was always working and dad was never around. By the time mum remarried, I was older and had better things to do with my friends. I wasn't into the arcade or minigolf. I was a bookworm. Right down Gerald Street."
"Ah, guys you might want to hurry up," said Leon. "The woman had taken a golf club to the ex-husband and he's trying to protect the kids."
Stella scoffed from the front seat, "The things people do to get custody of the kids."
"Step on it, Stel," said Josh, sitting calmly as the car pushed over 120 kilometres per hour down the highway.
Ten minutes later, once again thanks to Stella's driving, they arrived at Ted's Mini Golf and Arcade and could hear the woman yelling from outside the compound. Running through the front door, they saw a worker and he pointed straight out the automatic doors that led to the golf course.
There they saw a balding man on his knees, two small kids behind him looking scared as their mother, a short blond woman held a mini gold putter at him. The man had a small gash across his forehead, but a rather large bruise and was looking slightly dizzy and unable to focus. Josh turned to the manager who had several staff members keeping people back as they arrived.
Josh turned to Shannon and Stella, and directed them silently towards spots with good views and good access.
"You the manager?" asked Josh.
"Manager and owner, Ted Potter," he said, shaking Josh's hand.
"What happened?" asked Josh, holding down his comm's button for the girls to hear.
"Dad and the kids were fine, just started a round on the outside course. Then twenty minutes later, mum rocks up and starts screaming that the kids had been kidnapped. The she grabbed a club of a kid nearby and hit him with it," he explained.
"Did it seem to you that the kids had been kidnapped?"
"No, they seemed happy to be with their dad. If he did kidnap them, why would he bring them here? Why not make a run for it?"
"Okay, just keep everyone back. Shannon, you take point on this," said Josh, pulling out his taser instead of his glock.
"Excuse me. I'm Sergeant Shannon Henry," she started.
"This bastard kidnapped my kids!" yelled the woman.
"What's your name?"
"Emma. Toms. Emma Toms," she answered. Her husband moved to stand, and she pulled back the club, ready to hit him again.
"Emma! Emma! Just talk to me, don't look at him, talk to me," said Shannon, hand raised in warning. "What can I do for you?
"I want my kids back!"
"You want them back. You want them back safely and happy?" asked Shannon.
All three TR members could see her falter as she nodded.
"Well, this is not the way to do it. Your kids are scared. Scared because of what their mum is doing right now."
"He took them. From my mother's house! The judge said we needed permission from my mother. Their only grandmother. They're staying with her while we sort out the custody of the kids!" she yelled, brandishing the club at him again.
"She said I could take them for the day! They wanted to see me!"
"What's your name, sir?"
"Jake Toms."
"Alright, Jake, you need to be quiet, right now. Can you do that?"
"Sure," his grip on his kids tightened slightly.
"Emma, your kids are really scared at the moment. How about you put down the club and let us make sure they're okay?" suggested Shannon.
The hostage situation was quickly diffused as Shannon was told to negotiate and used the kids as leverage. Once Emma Toms realised that this could end her time with her kids, she put the club down and was quickly arrested. Shannon was watching the kids, talking about their game of golf with their dad and what had happened when their mother arrived yelling and screaming.
Stella watched from a distance as the Shannon laughed at something the little boy had said, turned to Josh and told him she was going to find a bathroom.
"Question the manager while you're in there, Stel," said Josh, who was standing next to the ambulance as the officer looked at the head wound on the father.
She went looking for the manager and quickly found him trying to reassure his customers.
"Ted, can I have a word?"
"Yeah, sure," he said. "Anything you need."
After discussing the hostage situation, Stella turned the conversation to a more personal matter.
"Off the record and out of curiosity, do you hire out the course to parties and such?" she asked.
"Sometime, it depends how desperate the parents are," he joked, smiling casually. "You need it for a kids party?"
"Not quite," she smiled.
"Guys, there has been a report of shots fired of the Recreation Hotel," said Leon, and TR2 could hear the tapping of Leon's fingers across his keyboard.
"Go," was all that Josh said, turning on the lights and sirens again.
The pub owner from that morning, Edward, had shot the young man who had punched Stella, who was now lying in the doorway of the hotel, bleeding from the shoulder. Josh put Stella in charge of negotiations, and Shannon was given the rifle to cover the door. Josh took care of the visuals.
"Hi Edward, this is Senior Constable Stella Dagostino, we were here this morning," she introduced herself.
"Oh yeah you're the one who got punched."
"Oh yeah, that was me. Now look. I know there is an injured man in your pub and I need to know what happened."
"Looks like someone shot the bastard," he said, sarcastically.
"We're you involved in that Edward? Are you alright, Edward?"
"Yeah, I'm fit as a fiddle. How's your nose?"
"Yeah it's fine, thanks, but that man looks like he needs some medical attention," she explained, looking through the windows of the car at the young man lying on his side.
"Don't you recognise him?" asked Edward.
"I do, he looks like the man who hit me, and I would like to get him some help, okay?"
You know, I thought you folks took things like this kind of seriously, yet here he is a couple hours after you've arrested him. What does that tell you?"
"That no cares about modelling career."
She earned a light laugh from Edward. She was able to gain his trust enough to allow Josh to go and collect the man from the door and to the ambulance.
TR1 joined them shortly after and Lawson took over for Josh. Christian and Michael were set the task of watching the back door. After Edward hung up on Stella, a gun went off from inside the pub, and everyone instinctively ducked down. There was no answer over the phone or through the front door. Josh suggested the siren ball, Lawson handed it to Shannon and told her to have Michael throw it.
It took Michael two attempts to get the siren ball through the door window, having to smash it with a piece of wood on the second attempt. As soon as Lawson had turned it off, they stormed the building and found his shotgun behind the bar. They found him in the cellar with a gunshot wound holding a knife.
Despite what her boss had told her prior to storming the building, Stella trusted Edward and he willingly handed over the knife and allowed Lawson to handcuff him. He scolded her outside as they were returning to the car. Shannon was leaning against TR1.
"Lawson, it all ended up okay," she said.
"Just write up your report," he dismissed.
"I knew that I was doing in there, okay?"
"Really?" Lawson was being sarcastic now.
"Look, he wanted someone to trust him, I did, and it was okay," she said, stopping.
"You write that in your report," he said, pointing at her to add emphasis, and he walked away.
They walked to the cars to leave.
"Go Maverick," she retorted, getting into the back seat.
Thankfully, their shift was over and all they had to do was write up their reports, which took everyone well over an hour. TR2 had attended to two high level situations that required every bit of detail. As Shannon pulled on her jacket, she turned to Stella.
"What are we doing tonight?"
Stella smiled back to her, happy about her chance to prove herself.
"You'll see."